


The 1O1

by elizalycia



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, G!p Anya, G!p Lexa, G!p Luna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:35:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizalycia/pseuds/elizalycia
Summary: 97 years ago, a nuclear bomb took all the lives on Earth, leaving it a place simmering in radiation. Fortunately there were survivors who were lucky enough to get a place in available operational space stations. There were 12 space stations in all, which was then forged into one huge community floating in space, The Ark. People were told that Earth needed another 100 years before it was survivable once again.One day 101 delinquents were sent to the ground to see whether it was survivable or not.Lexa was one of them.





	1. The Ark

Chapter 1: The Ark 

 

97 years ago, a nuclear bomb took all the lives on Earth, leaving it a place simmering in radiation. Providentially, there were survivors who were lucky enough to get a place in available operational space stations. There were 12 space stations in all, which was then forged into one huge community floating in space, _The Ark_. People were told that Earth needed another 100 years before it was survivable once again.

On The Ark, every small crime was punishable by death unless you were under 18. All delinquents were kept in tiny cells in solitary. It was called the _Sky Box._

Lexa Woods was 2 years into being a prisoner on The Ark. She did not commit any sort of crimes at all. The councilor found out that she was “different” and no one else on The Ark was like her. So for this mere reason, they decided to put her in a cell.

Lexa heard guards heading towards the cell beside hers.

“Prisoner 319, face the wall.”

“What is this?” She heard another voice from a girl. She realized it was Clarke Griffin, the girl who she had a crush on for years.

“Quiet, hold out your arm.” She heard the guard continued.

“Is she getting floated?” Lexa frantically thought. Before she could listen any further, two guards came barging into her cell. They took advantage of her panic state and clasped some sort of metal bracelet on her wrist. Her eyes widen as she was hauled out of her cell forcefully.

“No! No! It’s not my time. I don’t turn 18 for another month.” Lexa heard the last of Clarke’s voice before she saw her being pulled out of her cell as well.

Clarke continued thrashing in the guards’ arms, refusing the metal bracelet the guard was trying to put on her. Lexa couldn’t remember the last time she saw her, but here she was now.

“Clarke! Stop! Wait here.” She heard another voice.

“Mom? Mom, what’s going on? What is this?” It was Clarke’s mom, Abigail Griffin.

“They’re killing us all, aren’t they? Reducing population to make more time for the rest of you?” _Wait, what?_

“Clarke, you are not being executed. You’re being sent to the ground, all 101 of you.”

_What is going on? Why are we all being sent to the ground? And what is this about reducing population?_

“What? But it’s not safe. No! We get reviewed at 18.” Clarke said tearfully.

“The rules have changed. This gives you a chance to live.” Abby turned to Lexa who was just behind her, witnessing this. “Your and Lexa’s instincts will tell you to take care of everybody else first.” Clarke looked behind Abby before her mother turned back to her, “Just like your father, but be careful. I can’t lose you too. I love you so much.” Abby hugged her and all of a sudden, a guard shot Clarke with some sort of sedative and she passed out.

“What is going on? Why did he shoot Clarke? Is she ok?” Lexa panicked before she felt a sharp pain on her back and her world went black.

*

They woke beside each other in the drop ship, strapped to their seats.

“Lexa? What are we doing here?”

“You heard your mother, Clarke. We’re going to the ground.” Lexa calmly told her.

It was everyone’s dream. To be on the ground. To not be in this shitty tin can floating in space which sooner or later will run out of oxygen and everyone will most likely die. But right now, Clarke wasn’t sure whether this was a dream come true or not.

The ship shook violently and Clarke grasped onto Lexa’s arm. “What was that?” She asked. “That was the atmosphere, Clarke.” Truthfully, Lexa was internally panicking, but with Clarke holding onto her arm, she tried her best to look as calm as possible.

The screen started buzzing before the image of Chancellor Jaha appeared. He started, “ Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now. You’ve been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us. Indeed, for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would’ve sent others. Frankly, we’re sending you because your crimes have made you expendable.

“If, however, you do survive, those crimes will be forgiven. Your records wiped clean. The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years. No one ever made it there. Because we spare you no food, or water, or medicine, I cannot stress strongly enough that Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately.”

All of a sudden a guy started floating towards Clarke, “Hey, you’re the traitor who’s been in solitary for a year.” Lexa glared daggers at him before he glanced at her. “Oh, aren’t you Lexa Woods? I’ve heard of you. You’re the one who’s different, right?” He winked and nudged her with his elbow. Two other guys followed him and started floating around the drop ship.

“And you’re the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk. Stop taunting Lexa and get your ass back to your seat or you’ll die.” Clarke replied spitefully.

Lexa couldn’t help a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Clarke was defending her. It didn’t last long as this guy continued, “But it was fun. I’m Finn.” He held out his hand to Clarke.

“Stay in your seats!” The blonde retorted loudly.

The parachutes deployed causing a horrible turbulence. Everyone started screaming and Finn and the other two got thrashed around before dropping on the ground. The delinquents felt a crash and the machine stopped.

“Listen. No machine hum.” Monty said. They heard the buckles of the strap clicked and immediately got out. Someone announced that the outer door was on the lower level and everyone started rushing down to go out.

Clarke grabbed onto Lexa’s arm and rushed down with the others.

“We can’t just open the door! The air can be toxic!” Clarke yelled at the others trying to open the door. “Listen to Clarke!” Lexa exclaimed after.

“Yeah we’ll listen, Lexa. Oh are you two dating or something? Cause I mean, Clarke _can_ get pregnant.” A voice came and a roar of laughter was heard.

Lexa looked down. At least she wasn’t mocked in the cell. Unlike now.

“You people shut up about Lexa, she did nothing wrong. And don’t open the damn door.”

“Just like how I was put in a cell for being born?” Murmurs started as a figure walked to the front.

“Octavia!” A guy ran towards her and hugged her. “Bellamy!”

The door slowly slid open. Everyone held their breaths. Bellamy quickly ushered Octavia outside.

“We’re back bitches!” Everyone screamed and poured out of the drop ship like water.

There were trees. Greeneries everywhere. The air smelled amazing and the area was vast. It was beautiful. It was unlike anything on The Ark. A dream that was now reality, until shit started.

Everyone was excited to finally step foot on the ground. Clarke and Lexa were no different. Lexa smiled widely as she saw the 97 enjoying themselves. She glanced at Clarke before the blonde return the gaze. A small smile started tugging at the corner of the blonde’s lips before it disappeared. Leaving the brunette wondering why.

Clarke took out the map and stared at it.

The two stepped off the drop ship. Clarke had a serious face on. _Cute. Wait, we’re on the ground, post-apocalypse and all. Get a grip of yourself, Lexa._ Then a guy with shoulder-length hair strode towards Clarke. _Finn.. What the hell does he want now?_

“Why so serious, princess? It’s not like we died in a fiery explosion.” He started.

“Try telling that to the two guys who DIED after following you out of their seats.” She said with a frown on her face. Lexa followed behind her. “What’s wrong?” _It definitely isn’t about those two dead guys for sure._

“You don’t like being called princess, do you, princess?” His statement was ignored as Clarke turned to Lexa and said, “Do you see that peak over there?” Lexa nodded.

“Mount Weather. There’s a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal. They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain.” Clarke began towards the other delinquents who looked like they gave no damn about the place. She spotted a couple making out in the bushes. _Seriously…_

“We need to get to Mount Weather, Lexa.” Clarke said. Lexa cleared her throat before yelling at the clamorous delinquents.

“Hey people! Clarke has something to say!” They hushed for a second before murmurs were heard again. Lexa sighed and ushered Clarke to speak.

“We know that we’re on the ground right now, but we’re not sure where we are exactly. However, see that peak over there,” she pointed towards a mountain, quite far away, “that’s Mount Weather. According to Chancellor Jaha, we need to get there.”

The girl by the name Octavia yelled back, “Screw him. You think you’re in charge here? You and your,” She stopped and glanced at Lexa, “boyfriend.” Laughter exploded.

Clarke gritted her teeth, “Do you think we care who’s in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we’ll get and the harder this’ll be. How long do you think we’ll last without those supplies? We’re looking at a twenty-mile trek, ok? So we want to get there before dark which means we need to leave now.” She was about to finish before she yelled again, “And once again, stop insulting Lexa.” Clarke walked towards the tree line setting off towards the direction of Mount Weather before she heard a manly voice.

“I got a better idea. You two go, find it for us. Clarke, you’re the privileged one, now you do the hard work.” Bellamy said and others chanted their agreement.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Clarke firmly said. “I’ll go with you. There’s no way you can carry all that food yourself.” Lexa said as well.

“Hey! Me too.” _God damn it Finn._ “I don’t think three is enough.” He said before grabbing Monty and Jasper with him, “How about you two? Let’s go.”

Another voice came, “Sounds like a party. Make it six.” Octavia walked towards the five; Bellamy grabbed her. “What the hell are you doing?” She shrugged, “Going for a walk.” He sighed and let her go. “You people better watch my sister or I’ll kill you.” Clarke rolled her eyes.

They finally began towards the tree. Octavia came close to Clarke and whispered, “Before you get any ideas, Finn is mine. But, I don’t think you do.” Octavia side eyed Lexa who had been quiet the whole time.

“Before you get any ideas, I don’t care and no I don’t think I’ll ever do.” They were intrigued by everything around them. It was completely different from anything they had on The Ark. A river came into view.

“Fuck yes!” Before anyone could stop her, Octavia took off her clothes and went into the water. “Octavia, what the hell are you doing?” Clarke scolded. “Let her.” Lexa quietly said.

“I can’t swim.” Monty said. “Wait, there isn’t suppose to be a river here.” Clarke was cut short by Finn, “Well, there is. So take off your damn clothes.” Lexa narrowed her eyes at Finn who caught it. “Lexa, you too.” They were about to get out of their clothes before a huge shadow appeared in the water heading towards Octavia.

“Shit! Octavia get out of the water now?” Clarke yelled and Octavia gave her a questioning look before screaming. “We have to help her.” Lexa said and ran towards the rocks above land. “We need to distract it.” She continued and Clarke immediately sprinted to help. They shoved the huge rock down into the water initiating a huge splash. It worked. The huge thing let go of Octavia and came towards the splash.

Jasper jumped into the water and held onto Octavia. “I got you.”

“You’re gonna be ok.” Clarke reassured her.

Their journey continued in silence, well until they found a path that could not be crossed by foot. They found some sort of vine that could handle their weight.

“Looks like we all have to be tarzans today.” Monty muttered under his breath.

“I’ll go first.” Everyone looked at Lexa before parting their ways for her. She grabbed onto the vine, her arms flexed. She did spent time in solitary for over 2 years, what more can she do other than work out in the cell.

“Damn. She got some sexy muscle going on there. Ehh Clarke?” It’s a wonder how Octavia could joke around after being dragged about in cold water by that huge thing an hour ago.

Lexa paid no attention to the remarks, she kinda did due to the blush creeping on her cheeks, but right now wasn’t the time to be acting shy. She lifted herself off the ground and swung as hard as she could. She landed on the other side perfectly.

“My turn!” Jasper chimed in. He grabbed onto the vine immediately and swung himself over the cliff as well, he landed. Suddenly, they heard a swish and Jasper screamed.

Jasper had a spear sticking out of his chest and Lexa… Lexa was fine until another swish was heard as a dagger flew across and cut Lexa’s arm.

“Duck down, Clarke!” Lexa yelled. She tried to get Jasper into a safer place and position.

Loud thuds were heard before five huge guys with face tattoos and bulky bodies jumped off a nearby tree. Everyone started screaming. But, these 5 guys were not heading their way. They were heading towards Lexa and Jasper. The 5 warrior’s eyes widen as they stared at Lexa. “ _Em-de laik natblida._ ” One whispered. (She’s a nightblood.)

Clarke, Finn, Monty, and Octavia got back up and stared wide eye as Jasper lied lifelessly on the ground and Lexa was nowhere to be found.

“No! Lexa!” Clarke screamed but it was no use. These grounders were fast and long gone.

“What the hell was that, princess?” Finn came up to her. She didn’t respond with the answer he wanted, “We need to get Jasper back.” She gritted her teeth and swung herself to the other side, “and Lexa too.”

“Are you crazy? We don’t know who they are and what they want from us.”

“So you want me to stay here and let her get kidnapped by these people and what? Let her DIE?” She yelled back.

“Lexa is gone. They took her. As much as I want to go after her, we need to get Jasper first since he’s still here. We should get Jasper back to camp and have him treated.” Finn argued.

*

Lexa stared at her arm. Why was she bleeding black?

Before she could react, a pair of strong arms scooped her up and held a piece of cloth with some sort of sedative herbs to her nose. She blacked out, but heard a faint voice saying something in a language she had no idea of.

She was awoken by a loud and harsh voice.

“ _Hir’s de las natblida, Tytos. Osir don lok em wit de Skaikru._ ” (Here’s the last nightblood, Titus. We found her with the Sky People.)

Her eyes fluttered open and she was staring at this… Bald man. “Who are you?” She asked warily in a low voice. She looked at her surrounding, she was in a room. An old, very old room. The walls were decorated with hanging animal skins. Warriors in heavy armors and face tattoo surrounded the room.

“My name is Titus, I am what we called, the _fleimkepa_ , or in your language, Flamekeeper. But trust me _Leksa kom Skaikru_ , you are not one of those people from the sky. You are not _kom Skaikru_ , you are _Leksa kom Triku_. _Yu laik natblida._ ” The bald man kept talking in this unknown language. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He noticed and immediately translated his statement.

“You are Lexa of the Woods Clan, the missing nightblood. I do not know how you ended up in the sky, but you are here now and you need to train for the conclave, that is if the current commander dies.”

“What’s a nightblood?” She questioned before receiving a sharp look from Titus.

“You bleed black.”

She had no time for further questionings as a cloth was placed on her nose and she blacked out again.

She dreamt of Clarke. Her blonde hair, her blue eyes. Beautiful. Her dreams were cut short by a shake on her shoulder.

“Hmm..” Came her frustrated groan.

“Wake up. You need to start your training.” A voice, a girl’s voice, it wasn’t Clarke’s, but somehow it felt warm unlike that bald man’s voice. _What’s his name again? Titus. Yeah, him.._

Lexa opened her eyes immediately to find another girl with black kohl around both her eyes. She looked older than she was.

“My name is Anya. I am your _fos_. I’ve taken you as my _seken_. Before you start questioning what those words mean, you’ll learn. Now come, we have things to do.” Lexa was pulled to a huge compound. She saw kids, _what the hell, kids with swords fighting each other._ She started noticing black blood on the ground.

“Focus _seken_. It is time for you to learn to fight, or you die.”

“I..” She was cut off. “Save your questions for later, _seken_.” Anya threw a sword at her and they began training. She learned how to grip the sword correctly, her stance, her swings. Anya smiled a tiny smile. Lexa was getting everything right immediately without much correction.

The sword felt natural in Lexa’s hands. Like she was born for this. _What did that man say again? Something about me being from the Woods Clan. A missing nightblood._

She learned almost everything easily. Which was a surprise for Lexa. She didn’t know that she had such skills. Shooting bows and arrows, throwing daggers, swinging her sword around. Sweat could be seen on her forehead and neck. It was getting hotter in her _Skaikru_ clothing. She wondered how the grounders were able to handle the heat with so much layers on themselves. The sun started setting; she was clearly surprised by how fast things went and how she did not think of Clarke at all, the beautiful blonde gone from her mind for a while as she was training. No idea why she was training, but here she was, trying her best or she’ll die, apparently.

“You are a natural, _seken_. Titus is right, you are not from the sky.” A voice came behind her as she put the sword she literally just got that day back in the scabbard.

It did felt natural to her. _But what about Clarke? Was she going to never meet her again? Her people? Were they ever her people after all? She was extremely different from them. What about these people?_

“What about my people?” Lexa asked.

“They were never your people, _Leksa_. You’re different, aren’t you?” Anya was met with furrowed brows. Her eyes then lowered. “Oh. Yes. Why? Are you one too?”

Anya nodded. “97 years ago, a nuclear bomb exploded. Causing radiation-”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

“The radiation mutated some females. Causing them to have an extra part.” _Oh. So, how did I get mutated if I was in space? Still don’t get it._

“I know you are confused as to how you got mutated and how you are the only one among the _Skaikru_ who bleeds black if you're from space. It is a question to me as well. But know this, _Leksa kom Trikru_ , you are not part of the _Skaikru_.”


	2. Survival of the Fittest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's not as long as the first chapter and not much has happened... I just finished my SAT..

Chapter 2: Survival of the Fittest 

Making sure that the last of the grounders were gone, Finn, Monty, and Octavia followed Clarke and swung themselves over the cliff to the other side as well with the sole purpose of helping Clarke aid Jasper.

Jasper let out another hoarse scream. “He’s alive!” He was still in a sitting in front of the tree. Clarke scrambled to lie him down on the ground, afraid that the loss of blood would make him fall unconscious. She took her jacket off, fold it, and laid it under Jasper’s head.

It was not an unexpected event. They knew absolutely nothing about the ground. They thought they did, through Earth Skill classes, history classes, and old pictures of the earth before the apocalypse. They thought everyone was dead. That was completely false. They were not alone and it frightened them.

Clarke started putting pressure around his wound, afraid that she would aggravate it and make it bleed even more. She knew he was still conscious from the scream he let out earlier, so that’s a relief. Well, not exactly relief, Jasper was here, alive, barely, but alive, Lexa wasn’t. She snapped out of her daze once she heard Finn exclaim, “What the hell is that? Blood?” Clark noticed droplets of some sort of black substances beside Jasper.

“Sorry to sound like a bitch guys, but can’t we just focus on the fact that Jasper is here, with a spear sticking out of his chest?” Monty cried. They were aware of how close the two were, best friends, that’s what they called it.

Clarke took a deep breath before sighing. She understood how it felt. She wouldn’t describe her relationship with Lexa as, close friends, nor best friends, or even friends. They never knew each other on The Ark. It wasn’t long until Lexa was imprisoned. Though, she noticed how every single encounter they had, Lexa would be staring at her. And her mother’s statement about how Lexa and she had the instinct to take care of others before themselves first. She loved how Lexa had been there beside her ever since they were thrown to the ground. Technically they were beside each other even on The Ark as their cells were right next to one another, but this was different. She knew she had an affinity towards Lexa, it didn’t help that people tease her all the times. But it offended Lexa prominently.

They had been helping each other ever since they were on the ground, always having each other’s back, but now. Lexa was gone and she didn’t know if she was still alive or incapacitated.

“I really do not know what to do here in the forest. You guys have to help life him up and head back to the drop ship.”

With extra care, Finn and Monty slowly picked Jasper up and to find another way to get back to camp without swinging themselves over a cliff.

They easily followed the tracks that they didn’t bother concealing back, the uninjured 3 and Octavia in silence and Jasper pale and unconscious.

Bellamy came running at the sight of his sister, “Octavia, are you all right?” He eyed her up and down looking for any injures. Octavia thought it was sweet. She loved her brother dearly, but she despised how overprotective he was most of the times. She knew that he was worried about her. It _was_ his first time meeting his little sister in years. But she was no longer a child, not on the ground and she was definitely not going to let him have control over what she can or cannot do.

“What happened to him?” He casted a horrified look at the lifeless body that Monty and Finn were carrying. “Where’s your girl?” He continued looking at Clarke who had a terrified look on her.

She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but consumed by grief and eyes watering, she looked at the ground, her shoes were the most interesting thing at the moment. She licked her dry chapped lips and swallowed conspicuously before opening her mouth, “They took her-” She stopped, couldn’t allow herself to breakdown in front of all these people. She didn’t know Lexa, she really didn’t at all, but she felt something somehow. Clarke took another deep breath, “We didn’t make it to Mount Weather. Lexa got cut by a dagger thrown at her and Jasper got shot. Lexa told us to duck down, so we did. When we got back up, Lexa was gone. The grounders took her. Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won’t kill us.”

Looks of relief filled Bellamy’s face.

Finn interrupted, “Yeah, the bad news is the grounders will. And they already did to one of us.”

People started gathering around them after seeing Jasper with a spear sticking out of his chest. They almost gasped in unison before everyone began yelling out nonsense.

“What the hell happened to him?”

“Where’s the other girl?”

“Where’s the food?”

“Everyone shut up!” Anger and irritation could be heard in Clarke’s voice, her chest started heaving.

“You brought them along with you to this mission thing and you brought them back with no food, a guy with a spear sticking out of his chest, and a missing girl from your squad.” Was heard throughout the crowd of people.

“If you guys would stop talking within yourselves, maybe she will explain everything to you.” Finn said.

Everyone kept their mouths shut, or they tried to. Eyes all stared at Clarke, waiting for an explanation.

“I know you guys are wondering what happened. We were supposed to get to Mount Weather and bring back supplies and food. But we didn’t make it and I don’t think we ever will. There are people here, people who survived the nuclear apocalypse. But right now, we need to get him treated,” She glanced at Jasper’s body, “or he will die.”

*

Lexa was seated in one of the rooms with the bald man, I mean Titus in front of her giving her boring lessons on what _Heda_ or a commander from the translation he gave her, should have and should not have.

“ _Hodness laik kwelness._ ” (Love is weakness)

“ _Noun, fiyanes, en uf._ ” (Wisdom, compassion, and strength)

“ _Heda_ does not show emotion. _Heda_ must always remain strong and show no weakness.”

“During your conclave, you must fight to the death with other nightbloods.” He continued blandly not noticing the confusion on Lexa’s face. “You mean I have to kill all those kids I just saw on the training compound?” He did not move a single facial muscle, but nodded stiffly. “Are you insane?”

“One must be the strongest to become _heda_ , therefore the nightbloods must fight each other to the death so you can take the _fleimon_ , the spirit of past commanders.”

“Hell, I am not doing that. I am not going to kill off innocent kids who were forced into this.” She cried out.

“They were not forced into to this, _Leksa_. They were born for this, their _sheidjus_ , like you.”

Lexa wanted to rage, she wanted to scream at this man. What exactly had she gotten herself into? She didn’t know, she didn’t want to know. Her eyes were still fixed onto Titus. After this boring lecture, she had more training to do. She didn’t understand what was going on, but all she knew was that she had to do this, to survive, and most probably, to lead these people. But the thought of killing innocent young ones were devastating. Though, this feeling inside her was telling her to do it. Titus was right at some point, or she thought he was. She was too different to be from the sky. She shared the same black blood as those kids she saw on the training ground. This feeling inside her stomach, her head, told her that she was born for this. Or had she?

She never knew who her mother was. Apparently, she grew up with people telling her that her mother had been floated right after she was born. Lexa didn’t have the courage to ask why. She knew that it would break her. So she never wanted to find out why.

Anya waited for her outside the room. “I know he’s a bland bald man, but he’s also been a _fleimkepa_ and _ticha_ for the last 4 commanders. It’s best if you listen to him.” She kept her face stoic. _What’s with the grounders and emotions? It’s as if they have no muscle in their faces to move except their lips._

“4 commanders?” Lexa’s eyes widen in surprise receiving a narrow look from Anya before she straightened her face to become as stoic as it could go.

“The commander’s life is short-lived. _Heda_ fights for her people, she must fight until her fight is over. And she receives the same from her people. They are all willing to die for their _heda_ as well.”

Lexa did not question anything else after that. _Was that my faith now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was wrong, there WILL be a major time jump.


	3. The Inevitable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to make Bellamy the asshole he was in season 1.. But Finn will be the same.

Chapter 3: The Inevitable

It was amazing how this tall and huge building was able to withstand the nuclear bombings. It was old, vintage, worn out for sure, but it still stood in all its mighty glory. And the rooms, they were decorated with the finest fineries. A huge opening on the wall played the role as a window. The sun was shining brightly through it, as if knocking Lexa on the head telling her to get her butt up and going. She was only 17 and was thrown into this thing. She didn’t even know what to call it. _What did they call this place again? Polis.. Apparently, it’s their capital._ Her thoughts were stomped on as loud knocks were heard.

Lexa was dressed in grounders clothing. Animal skin, black leather, straps on straps on more straps. Pants so tight, it could have become one with her and adorned with loads of daggers, visible ones and hidden ones. She was wearing something very similar to Commander _Aria_. Her braids were simple in comparison to the commander.

It had been 2 weeks since she’d last seen Clarke. _If I was keeping count of the days, the grounders had no calendar to keep track of the days, month, year, nor even time._ She wasn’t sure whether she missed her or not. The lessons taught by Titus were wrapping her up in a confined space. _Love is weakness._ Lexa closed her eyes and couldn’t help but dream of those beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous blonde hair. Before she shook her head throwing the thoughts away. She couldn’t let it distract her or else she might die, literally; she especially knew that it was terribly wrong, but was she ever given a choice? It was her luck that the current commander, _Aria_ , was still alive. She couldn’t bore the thought of killing those kids… yet. That’s the problem, it’s the yet. She knew she had to.

These past few weeks, Titus had taught her to be impassive, stoic.

“The commander must lead with her head, not her heart.”

She first thought that he was insane; probably something got him in the head. But afterwards, she saw how the people treated _Aria_ with so much love and respect in their eyes. The people basically worshipped her and the ground she stood on. She was like a god to them. Lexa realizes how important the commander’s duty was. The commander must always put her people first. But up until now still had no idea who _HER_ people were.

To her surprise though, she was getting a hang of it. Her trigedasleng had improved immensely, her fighting skills had improved, and her bow and arrow skill had improved. She was able to precisely hit a target 30ft away with her dagger and spear. But she was mostly proud of the fact that she could finally be able to spar with Anya. She didn’t know how she caught on to these skills so quickly, but her _fos_ had mentioned it had something to do with the black blood running in her body.

Lexa came to her conclusion; she really did miss Clarke. Back on The Ark, all she could do was stare at her from afar. Clarke was a beauty, so damn beautiful sometimes Lexa couldn’t even breathe from holding her breath for too long just ogling at her. Until everything went downhill and they decided to lock Lexa up. They never had the chance to become friends, thanks to Lexa’s cowardice. Clarke was there when she was arrested. She remembered her shocked face, her widened eyes, jaws hung open, desperately asking the guards for the reason of Lexa’s arrestment. And then it was all gone.

She remembered when she heard chaos outside and hearing Clarke’s voice before a cell beside hers open. She wasn’t sure whether Clarke was imprisoned or just visiting someone. But it wasn’t possible that it was the latter. _For what reason, though?_

Titus had caught her many times, day dreaming, not focusing on the lessons given. Lexa had asked him if she could somehow meet the others she came down with. Her eyes showed, that it was more than just the “others she came down with”. And many times had he caught onto the name she was mumbling. She wasn’t even asleep for goodness sake.

“ _Leksa_ , we must talk… About your recent behaviors.” Titus said as he sat Lexa down on one of the chairs in his _tichraun_. (teaching room/classroom) His face continued staying emotionless, voice spoken evenly.

She took a seat gingerly, not sure why she was here in the first place. Her face stoic and commanding, he was enthralled that she had at least been listening to some of his teachings, but he definitely didn’t show it.

“You have been very distracted. Especially calling out a certain someone’s name. May I ask of the relationship between you two?” He asked in a dull voice.

“She’s no one.” Her eyes betrayed her as it sparkled by the thought of a blue-eyed blonde girl. The edge of her lips twitched, itching to do that small smile she always did whenever Clarke would defend her. She missed her terribly.

“ _Leksa_ , you must not let your feelings get control over you. Love is weakness and I have been telling you the same thing over and over again. Have you been reading the books? Did you not see what had happened to _pramheda_ as she was consumed by her emotions? She was a great commander before she allowed herself to lead with her heart and not her head.”

*

With the help of Clarke, Jasper was able to stay alive. He had been healing quite nicely. For the first few days, everyone wanted him dead. Due to not having anesthetics, the pain made him wail in agony loudly every night for a while until the wound was healed enough or because he got used to the pain.

Under Bellamy and Clarke’s leadership, the delinquents were able to work together and built a huge fence out of woods to keep their camp safe from grounders. Safety was their first priority; food was their second.

They have been trying to train themselves to make spears out of wood to hunt for food. To no avail, they were failing miserably. Food was scarce, actually it wasn’t, but they didn’t really know how to get them.

At one point, Monty tried to communicate with The Ark through their wristbands, but ended up frying every single one of them. Their last resort for help was gone. It wasn’t helpful though, as it was The Ark who decided to dump them on the ground with no kisses of good lucks. Now with the wristband gone, The Ark probably thought that they were all dead by now.

That’s what Clarke thought before a few days later, she heard a loud crash. It sounded awfully familiar, like a huge metal container falling from the sky and smashing on the ground. She gathered a few people to go along with her. Monty was an essential.

It was a perfectly sunny day, nothing like what could be found on The Ark. The air smelt amazing and the breeze felt so good on their skin. It would be great if they had the time to enjoy all these things rather then trying to battle with everything around them to keep themselves alive.

And Finn, being the usual Finn, followed Clarke to the site as well. He had been trying to flirt with Clarke ever since they were in the dropship, but she paid him no attention. He looked like he was just trying way too hard. He definitely was trying way too hard.

“So, what do you expect this to be? I mean our wristbands are fried for a while. I think The Ark would believe that we’re dead by now.” Finn broke the silence as they walked through the woods towards the rising smoke from the crash site.

Clarke didn’t answer him for a while. She knew his intentions, but she didn’t fell for it. Finn wasn’t her type, not even close. He looked extremely fragile, _is_ extremely fragile, and plain immature.

“Definitely not my mom, I think.” Clarke replied without taking her eyes off the path. She felt like she was babysitting adults. They weren’t adults just yet, but it was time they started acting like one.

Their journey went on in silence. A few minutes later, they arrived at the site. Burnt marks marked trees around it as a metal pod laid half wrecked on the ground. The whole place smelled like burnt metal and trees.

Clarke sprinted towards the pod with Finn, Monty, and Bellamy trailing behind. She tried to get a good look at the inside of the pod to make sure that it was indeed occupied. She glanced to the guys behind her and gave them a small nod. The other 3 took a few steps forward and opened the pod.

Without looking in, they stepped back allowing Clarke to inspect the inside and whoever it was first. Clarke poked her head in, eyes widened, “Oh my god.” The girl had a head injury and had blood running over half of her face.

“Hi.” She said her first word monotonously. The girl looked around for a bit before continuing, “I made it.” It sounded like a silent question. Clarke smiled widely and nodded. “Let me clean that cut for you.” She reached behind to her back pocket and pulled out a fabric before cleaning the blood off of the other girl’s face. “I’m Raven.” She said blankly, must’ve been due to the blood lost.

“Let’s get you out of here.” Clarke held her hand out, an open invitation for Raven to grabbed on to her arm. She gently pulled Raven out.

Raven took a look around and started twirling. She took a huge breath. “I dreamed that it would smell like this.” She continued twirling around with a wide smile on her face. Didn’t notice the 3 guys standing there, Finn with his mouth open.

“Raven?” He said absentmindedly.

She automatically stopped twirling. Raven turned towards the guys. “Finn?” Her smile grew even bigger before she ran towards him. She stood still for a while admiring his face. She held both hand onto his cheeks and continued smiling. Raven grasped the back of his neck before joining their lips together.

“I knew you couldn’t be dead.”

“You’re bleeding.” He held his hand up to caress the cut on her forehead. “Let me.” Clarke pushed herself in between the two and started wiping the blood off.

“This is Clarke.” He glanced at her for a second, Clarke caught onto a guilty look in his eyes. “Clarke?” Raven gave her a questioning look. “This was all because of your mom.”

Clarke squinted her eyes. _What about my mom?_ “My mom?” Raven gave a tired nod, “This was all her plan. We were trying to come down here together.” She stopped and turned back to look at Finn before her eyes flared. “If we waited… Oh my god.” Raven gasped, “We couldn’t wait because the council was voting whether to kill 300 people to save air.” Everyone gasped along with her. “When?” Clarke asked, frightened. “Today.” Raven ran towards the pod, “We have to tell them you’re alive.” She looked around for the radio as she heard Bellamy let out a yell.

“No!” He ran towards Raven and grabbed her arm, stopping her from finding the radio.

“What the hell Bellamy.” Clarke screamed, a conspicuous scowl on her face.

“I’m not letting you contact The Ark.” He replied back with a grimace feel in his words.

“And why is that?” Clarke glared back at him. He sighed and looked down, “I did something…” Bellamy hesitated for a few seconds. “Did what? Stop stalling and get this done with already.” Finn impatiently added.

“After I found out that Octavia had to be sent down to earth, I did something so that I could come down with her as well.” Silence filled the atmosphere; his answer wasn’t enough.

“What did you do?” Clarke irritably asked.

Bellamy gritted his teeth and sucked in his breath. Everyone’s eyes were on him now. “If The Ark finds out we’re alive; they’ll come down. And if they do, I’m dead.”

That answer was definitely not copious enough for the others. “Cut the crap, what the hell did you do?” Raven couldn’t keep up with his bullshit anymore.

“I..” He stopped, but he knew it was his last choice, “I shot him.”

“Shot who?” Monty curiously joined. “I shot Jaha.” Everyone gasped.

That was certainly unexpected. He shot the Chancellor. “Someone came to me with a deal… Do this… Kill him, and they’d get me in the dropship.” Clarke still had her gaze on him; shock filled her eyes.

“Who made you that deal?” He wouldn’t answer. “Look Bellamy, if you turn this person in, maybe you’ll be cleaned out.” He still didn’t answer her.

“I’m sorry Bellamy, we still have to contact The Ark. Now if you tell me who it was, maybe my mom would help you.” She was persistent in getting the answer from him. “Bellamy…” It kept going and going, until guilt ate him enough. “It was Diana and Shumway. Shumway gave me the gun.”

He told them everything in detail. As much as he wanted to save himself and get vengeance on Jaha for floating his mother, he didn’t want 300 people to die. Especially knowing that the ground is habitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a month break. Hopefully I can get at least 10 chapters out before my holiday ends.


	4. Grounder in Camp

Chapter 4: Grounder in Camp

After his whole confession, Bellamy looked as if his soul was sucked out. He felt guilty, but he knew he needed to be here for his sister. No one dared to move for a while. They were still stuck in their spot, trying to grasp onto the new information.

Raven snapped out of stupor and quickly stormed back to the pod to grab the radio. Some statics could be heard, but it wasn’t coherent enough to make out what or who was on the other line.

“Raven? I think Monty can help.” Finn suggested and pushed the boy gently towards Raven. The two swiftly started talking and pressing buttons. The others didn’t understand a single word that came out of their mouths. It didn’t even seem like English to them.

“Pod-… this-… station medical-… receiving-… respond-…” Was all that could be heard, but Raven definitely knew it was Abby.

The two continued working the radio for a bit more. Pressing more buttons, twisting parts, and finally, Raven gave an ok sign to Clarke. She advanced towards Raven who had her arm held out with the radio.

“Mom?” Clarke said under her breath, her eyes already tearing up. “Clarke?” The voice returned slowly. “I knew you couldn’t be dead.” Abby’s voice cracked as she continued. “Mom, please. We’ll continue this afterwards, but right now, I need you to know that the earth is survivable.” Clarke’s hands were shaking, especially the one holding the radio. “Raven told me the council is voting to kill 300 people today. Mom, stop them. Radiation won’t kill us, mom.” She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see the owner before nodding.

“And mom, do me a favor on The Ark.”

“Clarke, before I answer that favor, I need to gather Jaha and Kane first.” Clarke stopped her before she could try to step out, “That’s what I want to talk about, mom!”

“Wait, Chancellor Jaha is alive?” Bellamy muttered under his breath but everyone, except Abby heard it. “Mom, something happened to Jaha, right?”

“Clarke… How did you know?” Abby sounded surprise, she should be, “he was shot. We don’t know by whom, but I was able to keep him alive.”

“Exactly, mom. I know by whom. Go get Jaha and Kane. We’ll stay by the radio and wait for you.” Clarke didn’t get a reply so she assumed that Abby would be out getting Jaha and Kane immediately. It wasn’t time for small talks between the five on the ground. The atmosphere between them was tense. So thick you could smell it.

Clarke hoped she could convince Kane to not float all those innocent people. It was his idea in the first place. And she wished it wasn’t too late. A few minutes later, she heard weak statics from the radio.

“Clarke? Clarke? This is Chancellor Jaha.” His voice was weak; it seemed he hadn’t heal enough yet. “Is everyone ok?”

That question sucked the soul out of Clarke. Jasper had a spear sticking out of his chest, but he was fine. Lexa… Lexa was gone. And they didn’t even try finding her; it was way too dangerous. Whether she was alive, or dead, was unknown to them. _I should’ve gone out to find her. It’s too late now and it’s all my fault._

“Did you get to Mount Weather?” Because Clarke didn’t reply, he thought it was fine to keep on asking. “No we didn’t. I don’t think we will. And, Lexa’s gone.” Her voice cracked a bit by the end, but she kept her composure.

“What are you saying?” Came Abby’s voice. “Wait. Wait… I need you to listen to me, don’t interrupt, I just need you to listen, ok mom?” She paused, “All of you, please.” They gave her a messy ok and she proceeded.

“First, don’t question why, I’ll explain it to you later on, but I need you to imprison Diana Sydney and Commander Shumway.” As she finished her sentence, Clarke heard shouting from the radio. Everyone was yelling things in unison making it hard to understand.

“Stop! Just stop it! Stop yelling at each other and listen to me!” Clarke was pissed. This was exactly the reason why The Ark’s council was failing at managing their people—other than limited oxygen.

“Before you start yelling at each other again, I need you to promise me that after I tell you whatever this is, you’ll lift this person’s sentence. I don’t care what you say, but you need to.” Once again, as expected, screams were heard. “What? Clarke you can’t expect me-” Jaha’s weak voice could be perceived over the screaming of others.

“Bellamy shot you. You know him? Bellamy Blake?” Clarke interrupted his ranting before he could finish himself. And Clarke continued over him as he tried to speak once again. “He did it because someone made a deal with him. He did it because you people decided to send his little sister down to her death. He did it for her; he did it for a valid reason.”

“And who made the deal?” Finally, Kane started speaking. “I’m Bellamy Blake. Diana Sydney and Shumway made the deal with me. They said if I shoot Chancellor Jaha, they would put me in the dropship with Octavia. Shumway gave me the gun; I still have it with me currently.” Bellamy stepped up beside Clarke and Raven and spoke in a calm voice. He knew if he let his anger took over, he’d be dead if The Ark comes down.

Clarke knew that they would have doubts. The councils didn’t trust the delinquents enough yet; they were prisoners after all. Nothing came back from the council as they were too busy talking among themselves. Clarke gave Bellamy a reassuring look. The poor boy just wanted to protect his little sister. He did so in such a horrible manner, but she assumed that he had no choice. Jaha did float his mother and she understood his vengeance behind it all.

“Mom, I don’t care if you don’t believe me. But believe Bellamy, why would he confess all this if he didn’t actually do it? Please mom, I have a bad feeling about Diana.” She cut the subject short, knowing that they had an even bigger issue to deal with. “Chancellor, arrest her and Shumway. Don’t float 300 people and bring The Ark down. I cannot emphasize it enough, those two are up to no good, arrest them before things get worse.” Clarke wanted to end it as fast as she could so she didn’t need to do more explaining, and she hopes to God that they will do as she said.

“Clarke, honey, I hope what you’re doing is right.” Abby’s voice was tender, reassuring even. But Clarke found the will to let it go through her and not let it linger in her mind. She didn’t reply, but let go of the radio and gave it back to Raven. She received a stare back from her, a curious look as to why she was acting this way with her own mother. But who was Raven to judge, when her mother was an alcoholic lady who sold her rations just for wine. Though Abby was way different, she was nothing like her mother.

She knew, by how desperate Abby was, literally begging for Raven to fix the old as hell pod so she could drop herself to earth. Death or not, she wanted to come for her daughter.

“Raven? Raven?” Abby’s voice over the radio called to her and she snapped out of her thoughts. “Yes Abby?”

“Will you be able to keep the connection, so we can communicate over time?”

“You bet cha I can. Who fixed that old ass pod? Me.” Her sassy remark made Abby laugh, a bit. “That’s good then. I’ll talk to you then, Clarke.” And the radio went dead.

“I just hope they really do imprison those two.” Bellamy sighed and walked away. The others did the same except Raven and Finn who seemed to be glued together next to the pod. Well, it actually was Raven gluing herself to Finn. She couldn’t seem to let go of him.

“Hey Clarke! I think it’d be best if we try dissemble the radio and bring it back to wherever you guys are staying.” Raven called over her shoulder. Clarke turned and the sight of Raven wrapped around Finn’s arms welcomed her. She gave a nod, “We…” She stopped and pointed at herself, Bellamy, and Finn, “can’t really help you with that. We’ll help you carry it though, but that’s a great idea.” She walked back to the pod and stood back a few steps allowing Raven and Monty to do their thing.” After a couple minutes of fiddling around, it looked to them like fiddling around but it was definitely some serious work, the two finally dissembled the radio and some other useful stuff they thought would be helpful. The boys helped carry them back to their camp with Clarke leading the way.

The closer they got to camp, she noticed Finn looked guiltier than he did before. She wondered why—he did forget about his own girlfriend up in space who risked her life coming down here for him and started flirting with her.

As they got through the fence, Raven eyed the place thoroughly. Octavia came up to them, a crowd behind her gathered as well. “Oh hi! So… You’re the one who came in that pod right?” Octavia asked.

Raven nodded and gave her a small smile, “Princess here, patched me up. Right, Finn?” She pointed at Clarke before cuddled herself in Finn’s arms. Octavia’s smile faltered, her mind drifted elsewhere a bit and she smiled even wider.

John Murphy came running to them, his face displayed a huge scowl. Apparently he was given an order by Bellamy to look after Octavia and specifically not to touch her. Not only was a scowl visible on his face, but a huge purple bruise on his cheek as well. “What the hell happened to you?” Bellamy eyed him up and down. Murphy’s lips tugged into a snarl, “What the hell happened to me? Ask your god damn sister what she did. I swear to god, I told her that I was under your order to look after her, but nooooo she decided to run outside the camp and got…” He couldn’t finish his sentence as Octavia clamped her hand on his mouth, silencing him.

“And got what, Murphy?” He yanked Octavia’s hand off Murphy’s mouth. He glared daggers at her, “She met this grounder dude and I thought she got kidnapped or something. Ends up, they were making out in the woods.” He rolled his eyes, “He’s in our camp right now. No one dared to touch him ‘cause your sister here, won’t stay off of him and you told us to not touch her.”

Bellamy growled and grabbed his collar, “Where is he?” Murphy didn’t let out a verbal reply but pointed towards the tree line. Bellamy threw him on the ground and stomped his way towards the trees with Octavia trailing behind him wailing in protest.

Clarke shook her head as she witnessed the scene of an overprotective Bellamy. Then she realized that it was indeed a stupid idea Octavia made, to allow a grounder inside their camp. She ran along side Bellamy. The grounders were a threat; they’ve been hunting them down ever since the Arkers set foot on the ground.

As soon as they reach the trees, Bellamy saw a muscular figure sitting atop a tree branch. “Lincoln!” Octavia yelled. “ _Okteivia?_ ” All eyes darted upward towards the guy. He jumped off the branch and landed on the ground as if it was a normal thing for him, maybe it was. This Lincoln guy was muscular; he didn’t have a shirt on, showcasing his abs and muscles in every crooks of his body. He had a series of tattoos on both his biceps, _tribal tattoos I believe_ , two ran down his chest, and another one ran along the right side of his neck. He had light brown eyes and jawlines that could cut. He had a huge gash on his left shoulder.

Bellamy charged forward to him, punching him in the chest, but he did not bulge. Octavia stifled a laugh then her face got serious again, “Bellamy, stop! He saved me and he got injured.”

Bellamy narrowed his eyes at her, asking for a clearer explanation. “I didn’t want to stay in the camp, I felt free when I’m down here, and you can’t just restrain me as if I’m a prisoner. You’re nothing better than when we were on The Ark.” Octavia glared at her brother and he backed down, “So I walked out. Big deal… Until a damn mutated moose charged at me. I tried running but obviously these legs didn’t help and it jumped at me. I thought I was going to die and he appeared. Because of that, look,” She tenderly caress the wound, “he got this huge gash because of me. He killed the moose and we have food extra now.” Octavia pointed at a moose being cooked at a corner.

“Octavia, he is not a good person. He’s a grounder for god sake. God knows what he’ll do to us now since he’s already inside our camp.” Bellamy insinuated.

“You can’t just hypothesize something like that. He _saved_ me.” Octavia emphasized said word. “You should be thanking him.” Bellamy was not amused. Clarke cut in, “He’s right, Octavia. He’s a grounder. He may be a good person, we don’t know for sure. It’s better if we play it safe than sorry.” They were in a foreign land and during those said times, they were deliberately fighting for their own lives to survive. Knowing that they weren’t the only ones here should be a relief, but it wasn’t. Hell it was way farther than relief.

“But he may be beneficial to us.”

“I am not letting you torture him.” Octavia stood in front of Lincoln in a protective stance. “I’m not going to torture him. I just need him to help us, help us survive down here, help us know what to expect from the grounders, and above all help us get to Mount Weather.” As soon as the name of the mountain fell from Clarke’s lips, Lincoln’s eyes widen and his lips curled into a snarl. He started glaring viciously at Clarke.

Octavia was surprised. Lincoln had been treating her so gently and even during those couple of hours, hadn’t seen him this infuriated. Even as he was fighting off the mutated moose, his face was calm, serene, stabbing a moose to its death just like any other day.

“Lincoln, what’s wrong?” Octavia asked. He didn’t reply, but walked off into the tree lines and Octavia followed. Lincoln wouldn’t say a word, as Bellamy and Clarke were still present. “I think you two need to go. He won’t talk when you both are here.”

“I’m not leaving you behind with a grounder, Octavia.” Bellamy grunted a reply. Octavia gave Clarke a pleading look. “I think we should leave those two alone,” She couldn’t even finish as Bellamy glared at her, “for a bit only. Come on, Bellamy. You must be hungry. We’re all hungry.”

Octavia looked at the two figures leave and their silhouette becoming smaller and smaller until they’re gone. She turned her gaze back to Lincoln who was sitting on the ground against a tree, she took a seat beside him. “What’s wrong? I know we haven’t been together for that long, but I’ve never seen you this angry.”

“Mount Weather… What does your people want with Mount Weather?”

“Supplies basically… Our leader back on The Ark told us to find Mount Weather because it had supplies that could help us survive.”

He gave her a dark look, “The _maunon_ are dangerous. They’ve been capturing my people. No one has ever returned, but if they do they returned as _ripa_. They look like they’ve gone crazy, eyes bloodshot, teeth bare, and would kill anyone in their sight.” Octavia looked petrified at the new information. “They would release acid fogs to suffocate and kill us. They have machineries like yours and _fayagon_ or i your language, guns. We’ve always been at war with them even if it didn’t look like it. For decades, we still can’t take them down. Your people think that my people are savages. Wait until you see the Mountain Men.” Octavia sat still for a while; all these new and horrifying information dwelled in her head.

“We need to tell Clarke and Bellamy.” Octavia insisted.

Octavia stood up from her place, but Lincoln was reluctant. “Lincoln, this new information may help save my people and yours too. Now that we have a new person in our camp, who is an ingenious mechanic, with our technology and her help, we can defeat the Mountain Men.”

“ _Okteivia_ , this is not as easy as you make it sound. I am not your people. I can be seen as a _natrona-_ ” Octavia contracted her eyes in confusion, “a traitor by my people. I’ve been scouting and observing you ever since you landed on the ground. You were there when one of your people was dragged away. But she’s a _natblida_ …” He muttered the last sentence under his breath. “Your people are seen as invaders to us, I am already betraying my people by helping you. Now to form an alliance with the enemy?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge time jump coming up. Not exactly huge HUGE, more like a month?  
> A week in my one month school break now, I'm trying to write a little each day so I can put up updates more often.


	5. A War We Should Not Be Part Of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deaths ahead, hopefully i didn't describe it too vividly. Just so you know, this took place 4 weeks after the delinquents crashed the ground.

Chapter 5: A War We Should Not Be Part Of

Clarke didn’t know where to start. I guess it’ll be best to say she was surprised he even spoke English. Not as surprised after being told that the people who were living in the mountain they were suppose to go to were this hostile… Clarke couldn’t think of a stronger word. Vicious _, I guess_.

“The _Maunons_ are a threat. They have been for decades now. But that does not mean that the _Maunons_ are the only threat.” Clarke and Octavia gaped. “What do you mean?”

“Here, on the ground, there are 12 clans. I am part of the _Trikru_ or the Woods Clan and so is the current commander, Aria. She is deemed as weak by the _Azgeda_ , Ice Nation. Their queen is frustrated because none of the nightbloods from the Ice Nation has made it through the conclave and become the commander. War can ensue at any moment now and it’s definitely a war you don’t want to be part of.

“I don’t know why I am telling you all these, it makes me a traitor to my people. But I feel much for _Okteivia_ and I want to keep her safe.” Bellamy had a serious face on and nodded his head. He was sat beside Octavia, keeping a protective arm around her shoulder.

A few days went by, nothing atrocious happened. A few were injured learning how to hunt from Lincoln, but smoother than it had been the last 2 weeks. Clarke and Raven had been repeatedly contacting The Ark. Abby told Clarke that Diana and Shumway were arrested, but they hadn’t confess their crimes yet. She also told Clarke that they wouldn’t be able to get The Ark down any time soon because it was physically not possible. Sinclair had tried and Raven had helped from the ground, but they hadn’t found a way, yet. Due to the lack of oxygen, more people had been vision impaired. Everyone on the spaceship was getting restless, but Abby reassured them that the kids are fine and they will go down to the ground.

Clarke realized that she had yet told her mom about the grounders. She was contemplating whether she should or not. She was aware of her overprotectiveness. Clarke knew her mother’s love for her, but she also knew the things her mother had done. She wasn’t stupid. That one time the delinquents were let out of their cells to get a medical check-up, she overheard Jaha and a few guards talking. It was Abby, who turned her father in. She knew it wasn’t intentionally, but it happened.

Clarke was just relief the commander or whoever led them that Lincoln was talking about, hadn’t sent a mass of warriors to kill them. Lincoln had been deliberately telling her how to not piss of the commander or the grounders. Bellamy and Clarke had gone through the rules with the others. She wanted them alive.

*

Most of the nightbloods were kids, but it was an understatement to say that they weren’t capable of taking Lexa down. Alongside the six kids, the older ones were Lexa, a girl who she befriended named Luna and her slightly younger brother. Luna had been a novitiate ever since she was 2. The girl was strong, and Lexa knew that she was capable of getting killed by Luna. Apparently, Luna had escaped at least 3 times now. She would’ve been killed right away if not for she was a nightblood.

The two became close. It was impossible not to as they were the eldest girls. Luna had revealed to Lexa that she hated her blood. For because of her black blood, she could not be a regular person.

Lexa could say that she learnt more about the ground from Luna than Titus. _I swear to God, that man is just too much_. She was even surer that Luna would definitely defeat her in the conclave, which meant, death. That thought didn’t really comfort Lexa, but that also didn’t mean that she hated Luna or anything. Their friendship was somewhat pure and genuine even in a complicated situation like this.

As emotionless as Luna looked, she didn’t sound like one. Luna had opened a whole new perspective to Lexa and she couldn’t be more thankful.

Just these past few weeks, Lexa had improved in such a rapid speed. She wasn’t sure how her apparent black blood made it possible, but her throwing a dagger across the field hitting the bull’s eye and defeating _gonas_ who were thrice her size and her _seken_ proved that. There was a possibility of her actually defeating Luna even if it was a small possibility. It was quite unfair, comparing their experiences. Though it wasn’t Lexa’s fault that she was supposedly a missing nightblood for over 16 years.

She was on the training ground with the other novitiates until she saw warriors and maids running to and fro in Polis tower, which wasn’t far from the field. Screaming was heard and the whole city became a mass of havoc. The sky turned black, a dark grey-ish black, looking as if a heavy storm was coming their way. Titus stopped the training and his eyes widen. His mouth hung open, he looked amusing, but it wasn’t the right time to really enjoy this very rare view of the bald man.

Luna also had her eyes widen for a second or so before her face returned to the calm Luna that Lexa had come to appreciate and respect. She was about to ask Luna what was going on, but Titus beat her to it and frantically ushered everyone back to the tower. Lexa wondered whether she should be panicking or not. It was her, like, fourth week on the ground and she didn’t really know what was going on.

The nightbloods trailed behind Titus like a herd of cubs following their father on a hunt for food. Lexa could tell that the younger ones were trying their best to keep their composure. Immediately, as they stood at the front door of the humungous tower, _gonas_ were screaming in trigedasleng at the same time to Titus. He held his right hand up silencing them. His face was calm, but they could tell that he was internally panicking.

“It was the _Azgeda_ , _Tytos_.” Luna glanced at Lexa, a look of guilt and… Relief?

“Does this mean that the conclave must be held, _ticha_?” One of the young novitiates asked.

“ _Kamp emo gon de raun_.” Titus sounded piercingly to the two _gonas_ stood before him. (Take them to the room.)

As Titus neared the commander’s room, his fear became reality. On the bed laid the body of _Aria_ , all bloodied and cut up. As he took a few steps closer, he noticed that her head was unattached to her body. Her face was barely noticeable from all the cuts and bruises. A gory view, it was heinous. He shouted orders to the _gonas_ outside, guarding the door, calling them _branwadas_ and useless _naumonjoka_.

Lexa didn’t really know what to do; she rushed up behind Titus going against his order. There, she witnessed the most disgusting scene in her life. She hastily ran back to the room where the novitiates gathered and sat paled face beside Luna.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Luna didn’t bore a glance to Lexa as she spoke. She didn’t need to face Lexa to know that the girl was nodding her head. 

“Lexa…” Luna said, very slowly. Lexa turned to face her as Luna continued, “Survive.” She didn’t understand the context, she got it but, survive? What exactly was Luna implying? Luna spun to stare at the wall, face calm like usual. 

“What are you-” Lexa was cut off by the smashing open of the door, Titus walked in. His hand bloodied and a stripe of black blood came from the back of his head to his forehead. Lexa was confused to why he looked so calm, and then she remembered that he had taught more than enough commanders now to basically not care for the death of someone. 

“ _Teik Sadgeda stot au. Heda stedaun_.” His voice way above a normal command. (Let the Conclave begin. The Commander is dead.)

 And before Lexa could register anything in her brain, all the novitiates were asked to go to their respectful rooms and come back in full combat gear well, minus the armors. 

As everyone disappeared, Lexa’s mind replayed Luna’s word. _Survive_ … 

She put on her black tight pants and shirt. No one was allowed to have any sort of armor atop or under their clothing. _Survive…_

Lexa couldn’t ignore the horrible feeling in her guts, today may be her last day on the ground and it hadn’t been that long. But the other feeling that took up over 90% of her guts was that she was born for this. For some reason, it felt right, obviously it was wrong, but Lexa couldn’t shake the majority of the feeling that told her that she was born for this and even though she had the least training, she was ready. Lexa hoped she was ready.

On the field now, she was no longer a friend to any of the nightbloods. All the people she came in terms to appreciate and love; now she had to kill them. The nine novitiates were led into an arena in the center of Polis. Basically the whole Polis had gathered there after the news of their latest commander’s death. The crowd roared loudly, adrenaline pumping. These people couldn’t wait to see them killing each other. 

Titus started the Conclave’s introduction speech with representatives of each clans sitting behind him on a higher platform. The _Azgeda_ queen, Queen Nia, still had the nerves to show up. Just a few hours ago, _Aria_ was assassinated by her people from her command. 

Lexa could see Luna breathing heavily. He started with four nightbloods; Lexa, Luna, her brother, and another younger boy. He began pairing them up. Luna with her brother and Lexa with the younger boy. 

Luna had an impassive look on her face as if she was expecting it, but she was able to spare a glance at Lexa and mouthed “Survive” to her. She didn’t have enough time to question Luna any longer. Lexa was worried as hell as to how Luna could be so calm when she was paired to kill her own brother. She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a very annoying voice.

Titus commanded them all to get their weapons from their individual guards who stood stiffly behind them. They all drew their swords and got in their positions with their partners. 

“ _Yo na jomp in_.” (You may begin.)

Metal clinked as swords clashed each other. Lexa began by staring down her opponent, who was a tad bit younger than she was, but started his training way earlier in his childhood. Her mind raced back to last week, when _Aria_ had trained them. To spot their opponent’s weakness. 

Her opponent was impatient, like any other kids his age. She allowed him to have the upper hand in the beginning. She then noticed that he wasn’t gripping his sword properly as well. Lexa wondered whether he really wanted to die or just wasn’t paying enough attention during trainings.

 He let out a loud yell and jumped towards Lexa with his sword drawn. She avoided it easily. He fell onto the ground. 

Lexa heard a loud scream; it wasn’t a ready-to-attack scream. It was of a guy wailing in pain. Her head snapped towards the direction. Within the first 30 seconds of the first round, Luna already had her sword stuck into her brother’s chest killing him instantly.

She couldn’t believe it. The scene made her eyes fury. She thought her irises were red by now. She could see a tad bit of sadness and guilt played over Luna’s face, just a tad bit, before turning to Lexa and giving her a small stiff nod.

Lexa immediately turned back to her opponent who was slowly getting up. She gave him no time to catch his breath, it was ruthless and cold-blooded of her but Lexa drew her sword out and threw it with all her might towards him. He fell back and black blood poured out of his chest like a water fountain. 

It was a few minutes later when the first round was over. Two bodies lied on the ground lifelessly. Titus walked towards them one by one, whispering, “ _Yu gonplei ste odon_.” 

The seven remaining were all put together in the second round, which was also the last round. 

“ _Yo na jomp in_.” (You may begin.)

It was obvious that both Luna and Lexa had avoided coming face to face with each other. But Lexa noticed that Luna wasn’t using her full strength against her opponent, injuring the girl, but not killing her.

Luna was able to incite her rival's attention towards the other mess of a body fighting towards the center. As the crowd kept shouting and cheering, her ears began to ring. She couldn’t stand it any longer. All the attention was on the hoard of bodies in the center, so she slipped out of the ring. It wasn’t physically a ring where she couldn’t escape; it was a ring made from the howling audiences who was too distracted by the mass of fighting nightbloods. The others didn’t successfully kill each other, except for Lexa. The two who were up against her laid on the ground, dead. She muttered, “ _Yu gonplei ste odon_ ” under her breath before walking away to her next target. 

Lexa expected to see four remaining nightbloods or maybe Luna killed some of them off already, but she was faced with only three left. Luna was nowhere to be found. Her first instinct was to think that Luna died, but it was impossible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried guys, I really did. You might be wondering how Lexa could kill novitiates who've been training since they were young. I can't tell u right now, but it has something to do with Becca and Lexa's relation with her, which is the prime reason why she was able to learn everything so quickly and the missing nightblood thing :>  
> it's 1:30AM here.. g'night!


	6. The Winner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who meets.  
> I couldn't hold it back anymore lmao

Chapter 6: The Winner

The delinquents were all outside the dropship; some of them went hunting along side Lincoln and brought back a variety of animals. Lincoln had been nothing but helpful towards them. Though he couldn’t really stay with them all the time, as he had to return back to a nearby village they called, _TonDC_ where the _Trikru_ resided.

It was a moment of serenity. The sky was sunny, the sun shone brightly enough to illuminate everyone’s skin. After Lincoln’s warning of Mount Weather, Clarke had decided that it was best for them to follow his advice. They all stayed clear out of Mount Weather’s way.

Bellamy had been doing his best to separate Octavia from Lincoln, but to no avail, those two stuck to one another like super glue. His eyes flare as he saw Octavia’s back snugged to Lincoln’s front as he trained her a few basic combat moves. Other than that, Bellamy had been doing quite well, leading the others and helping them improve in whatever they were doing.

Meanwhile, Raven and Finn seemed to be having problems. Raven was trying her best to ignore Finn who was tottering behind her with a guilty look on his face. Everywhere Clarke went, Raven follows and behind her was a puppy with an I-broke-a-vase look staggering along. Clarke didn’t really wanted to intrude in their relationship problems, but she knew it had something to do with Finn. That boy was up to no good.

After awhile, they knew that Raven was a necessity to the group. With her and Monty together, they were able to build a few defense systems to surround the fence and the dropship in case anything suspicious goes on. Nothing much had happen, but they knew it was better safe than not.

Clarke and Raven had been contacting the Ark more these days and it was confirmed that they could bring the Ark down any time now. It could be in a few days, weeks, or even hours 

“What was that?” Clarke gazed up at the sky. It had abruptly turned black. Lincoln who was just beside her, skinning a deer stopped. He gave Clarke a knowing look, “Let them finish skinning these. I have to go and tell Octavia too.” He threw the deer down and offered the others to finish it. He didn’t give Clarke a definite answer as he rushed out of the fence towards the vastness of the trees 

Clarke knew something was up. But she didn’t have time to give it a thought as she saw a huge bright point of burning metal shoots across the sky. It would’ve faded if it was a shooting star. _It’s not a shooting star; it’s daylight. Crap._  

Raven was sitting by the dropship, tinkering with her usual metal stuff with Finn behind her. As she felt a stare, she looked up and saw Clarke looking at her. Clarke nudged towards the sky with her chin and Raven looked up as well. _Shit…_

It took Clarke and Raven no time as they tried to rush towards the oncoming huge metal container. Behind them were most of the delinquents. _Thank god Bellamy stopped a few to guard the camp. At least he’s not the asshole he was 4 weeks ago._ It took them a good one-hour to arrive on site and it left them in terrors. “This is the Factory Station.” Raven said as they neared the demolished ground. “This is where I’m from.” Bellamy said after. Octavia would’ve smiled but flashbacks of living under the floor and her mom getting floated flooded her.

Everyone who was gathered there immediately went in and dug up burnt metals after burnt metals. No one survived. Then they heard a voice, a scream, it wasn’t loud but it was clear enough to realize that the voice wasn’t coming afar. Bellamy, Monty, Sterling, and Monroe rushed towards the noise leaving the others still digging through the remains. 

There a girl hung herself onto a branch from a cliff side. They quickly tried to pull her up without breaking the branch, which looked like it would crack any moment now. They flung her up on ground. Bellamy scooped her up, but Sterling stopped him and claimed that he knew her. So he decided to give the girl to Sterling. “Hi Mel. Good to see you here.” He gave her a soft smile and she returned. “Nobody survived. Only I did.” She replied tearfully.

“Welcome to Earth, Mel.” 

As they continued on in their journey to find other remaining of the Ark, they realized that another station had crashed into a part of the nearby village, the _Trikru_. 

“Clarke… That’s the Alpha Station. Your mom-” Raven didn’t finish her sentence as Clarke ran towards the site. It left her in terrors. 

The landing, or most probably crashing of the Alpha Station had burnt half of the village. Clarke could see charred bodies lying on the floor. As their entrance was discovered, dozens of grounders started shouting things in rapid Trigedasleng their way.

“ _Hod op_!” The delinquents were startled by very commanding a voice. They didn’t know what it meant, but froze in their positions. Two figures walked out a tent placed right in the center of the village. They held onto another two figures, both cuffed and physically injured.

“Mom! Marcus?” Clarke wanted to run towards her mother and embrace her, but by the presence of the two female figures behind them, she couldn’t find herself to do so.

Slowly, Clarke trotted towards them, followed by the herds of other delinquents. As she got near her mom, she could see the dirt on her face and the blood from small cuts. _I don’t think they tortured her. Thank god. I can’t imagine that after what Lincoln had told me of their ways._

“Clarke? What’s going on?” Abby was on the brink of tears, not from being cuffed, but being able to finally see her daughter. 

Clarke wasn’t able to reply her mother, because she herself did not know what was going on. A girl with face tattoo and short hair who was holding her mom spoke up, _“Ai laik Indra kom Trigeda._ I am the leader of this place. _Oso ge ouyon klin kom baman_. We are owed vengeance. I have heard of people falling from the sky and settling in our territory, but because you have yet to anger us, we let you go. But now, you have.” 

“Shit. I think we’ve irritated the grounders.” Clarke muttered under her breath but loud enough for the others to hear. 

The other girl with brunette hair and blonde dyed tips spoke after, “And for this, you must pay, with blood. More than five of ours have been killed by your attack.” 

“It wasn’t an attack. They were just trying to land here and accidentally crashed. Please, I’ve heard of your commander. Let me speak to her. Lincoln-” Clarke was cut off by a seething voice. “That traitor. He had disappeared for a while now. Where is he?” Indra gritted her teeth as she stared Clarke down. “I thought he’s with you? He-he said he had to go hours ago. I thought he’d be here.” With that, Clarke could see Octavia's wary glances, but said nothing. 

“I need to speak to your commander.” Clarke insisted before Indra finally gave up staring her down and roughly took her by the hand towards the biggest tent. There she met an even bigger guy who leaned into her and said in a threatening voice, “If you so look at her the wrong way. I will slit your throat.” She gave a quick nod before Indra led her inside the tent.

* 

Lexa, blood stained face, legs, and arms stood in the middle of seven dead bodies as Titus declared her the new commander. Someone behind Lexa knocked her down before she knew it. 

She woke up, probably hours later with a sore neck and back. Lexa was on an extremely comfortable bed; she could feel luxurious animal fur under her and over her. As she glanced around the place, she recognized it as the commander’s master bedroom. Apparently it was already clean, ready for the new commander. She knew it was the commander’s bedroom instantly because of its size and she remembered vaguely that she won the Conclave. But Luna was nowhere to be found. 

Lexa felt, funny and somewhat dizzy. _Is this what you feel like after getting the Flame? I know who I am and I know where I am, so that’s a start._

Loud knocks were heard outside. She was barely an hour into being the commander and she wasn’t allowed the luxury to rest. “ _Min op. Chit yu gaf?_ ” (Enter. What do you want?) 

It was Titus, the nuisance. “ _Heda_ , we must discuss a problem from the Conclave. Luna has escaped. We must find her and have her killed. This is an act of betrayal.” Lexa held her hand up silencing him and stared at him in the eye. “No.” She replied calmly. 

“But _heda_ -” He stubbornly continued. “But nothing, _Tytos. Mema, ai laik heda_. Do as I say. Now leave.” She left no time for Titus to reply. (Remember, I am Heda.) She shooed him away as politely as possible. Titus then gestured for someone else to enter. 

Another guy came inside, he was way bigger than Titus and Lexa combined. He gave her a stiff bow before continuing with eyes shimmering in _tears?_ “ _Leksa_ , it has been long. You’ve grown up so well.” He saw the look on Lexa’s face, confused and discombobulated… 

“ _Moba, heda. Ai laik Gostos,_ I am assigned to be your personal bodyguard.” (Sorry, commander. I am Gustus.) 

“No Gustus continue what you were saying. What is this I have been hearing? A missing nightblood? You’ve grown up well?” She retorted strongly demanding an answer. After being on the ground for a while, she could feel the confusion within her started to seep in and wanted to know the truth. It was hard enough to pretend like everything was fine now after she was declared the commander. Actually now that she was the commander, she knew she was putting herself into more danger. The previous commander didn’t die of old age. _Aria_ was still so young. Though she knew the burden one had to hold and she wanted to know the truth to everything around her before she could actually continue her duty.

“You were born here, _Heda_ , on the ground _._ That is all I can say for now. In time, you will know.” Gustus replied with a courteous bow. “But _Heda_ , I would like to personally show you to the village that you were born in, _TonDC,_ where the _Trikru_ dwells. I believe it would help answer all the questions you have in mind and to revisit your blurry memory of the place. You were way too young to remember anything the last time you were there.”

Gustus led the way outside; the two warriors standing guard the door straightened their spines into a stiff position. Lexa gave a curt nod to them before walking down the hallway and into the man-powered elevator. 

“Heda!” They were met with a frantic looking warrior who went by the name of Ethan. “Heda! I was sent a message by Indra that the village was attacked. Anya had already set off a while ago.” Lexa had learnt the names of all the current leaders of every clan and she knew that Indra led the _Trikru_. 

After ascertaining the new information, Lexa started barking orders out in Trigedasleng. It was her first duty as Heda, but it already felt so natural to her. Though after knowing that her apparent hometown, the village she was born in got attacked kind of stirred her anger. She was told by the conflicts between the twelve clans since _Azgeda_ assassinated the late commander. But she never thought they would initiate another attack so quickly.

A tall and sturdy stallion stood beside Lexa. It was the same horse she trained with as a _natblida_. She named him Royal for he stood tall and superior in size over other horses. Lexa patted his nose and stroked his neck before hopping on his back easily. She gave him a gentle but hard kick and they started off. Gustus rode beside her guiding her and Royal along. 

Lexa barely knew Gustus, but she knew that he knows her. She felt like he knew her to the point where she should put her entire safety on his hands. After that little slip up he had when introducing himself, she knew for sure that he had been there since the start. _But the start of what?_

What she liked most about the grounders was that they did not say much and she found that attribute in herself as well. She loved the silence they had as they speed their way to TonDC. All she heard was the wind whirling and once in a while neighing. “We are here, heda.” Gustus muttered beside her as they slowed down to a stop in front of the gate. 

The word of a new commander ascending spread like wildfire. Some were there watching her just a few hours ago in the Conclave, now their village was burning. 

“Heda!” They all welcomed her warmly, with tiny to the tiniest smiles on their faces. 

Lexa felt respected and esteemed. Her lips tug just a bit into a smile, it didn’t last long as she neared the alleged attacked site. _It’s the Ark_. _How did they end up here?_ If she was surprised she did a great job hiding it. _What am I going to do? Must focus. You are the commander now and you know that you were never a Skaikru so do what you must do._  

“Heda.” It was Anya. She strode towards Lexa, “Remember, _seken_ , you are not-” Lexa raised her hand silencing her. “I know.” Anya’s eyebrows almost lifted in surprise. She was internally proud of her _seken_ for being able to learn all these lessons so well in the matter of four weeks. _She’s definitely the Leksa we know who had gone missing._

“ _Moba, heda_. Indra and I have counted the casualties. It amounted to 5. As in the meantime, we have prepared your throne in your temporary tent. We advise you to stay there as we will bring you their leader and be punished by our law.” She stressed the word “our” more than anything.

A huge tent was set up beside another slightly smaller tent in the middle of the village. Anya ushered Lexa in the biggest one. She saw a throne made out of wood with spears sticking out and she assumed it was hers. I mean, she was the commander after all. 

Lexa took a seat and recalled all the lessons Titus and Aria had given her.

As she sat silent for a while, her body immediately stood rigid as voices were heard outside. Then it happened. 

It was Clarke’s voice. _Clarke? Of course it’s Clarke. Damn it. Control yourself. You’re no longer the Lexa she knows or the Lexa you know._

Lexa knew she was prepared for this moment. She sat on her throne toying with her dagger that was a gift from her _fos_ , a very well designed dagger, as the voices outside quarreled for a solid five-minute. Then, the tent flapped open. 

Indra entered, behind her shone the sun, though it wasn’t the sun, it was locks of luscious hair shining like the sun. 

Lexa’s gaze turned stone cold; it was a must for her, to not break. She had to remind herself once again that after she was “kidnapped” she was no longer the Lexa that Clarke knew. This was the commander, no longer the 17-year-old girl who was imprisoned on the Ark for no apparent reason. Her fingers started fidgeting again, so with her calloused fingers, she began twirling her dagger on the base of her palm again.

Indra paced quickly and stood beside Lexa with one of her hands on the hilt of her sword. The two other guards did the same, readying themselves for any upcoming threats from the small blonde girl. 

And there it was.

When blue met green. The sky met the ground. As worlds collided with each other, their gazes did not falter. A look of surprise and a look of impassiveness. 

“Lexa?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The back story will come soon. Not sure how soon but pretty soon, I guess?  
> I'm 21 days in my break, I got 10 more days. I promised to get at least 10 chapters out, but now I don't know anymore. It's not easy to write yknow. Maybe it's easier for some than others, but to me it's hard. Trying to come up with that back story, god, I spent so many hours talking to myself like an idiot lol. "wait i think i got it.." "nope it doesn't make any sense." "or maybe..." "nooooo."  
> I just didn't want to make it seem too unrealistic (i'm quite sure that it is i mean come on it's the 100 we're talking about)  
> Well hopefully I get my butt writing more because I really do want to get at least 10 chapters out before school starts again. AGAINN..  
> Then again, tell me if u find the plot hard to understand, hard to take in, wants to change a bit of this or that, just leave a comment and i'll fix it.


	7. Unexpected and Expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, yes I'm early. Yessssss I'M EARLYYYY

Chapter 7: Unexpected and Expected

 

Clarke was led into the biggest tent between the two by a girl who introduced herself as Indra. As she neared the entrance, a huge man, way bigger than Lincoln and she thought Lincoln was huge, had threatened to slit her throat. _What a great day. How better can this get? Oh yeah of course, now I’m meeting the commander. If this wasn’t scary enough, it should be now._  

The atmosphere grew tense. Clarke felt her heart thudding loudly in her ribcage. It felt like it was about to beat out of her mouth. The tent, even though temporary looked pretty well decorated. As Clarke’s eyes shifted around the huge tent, it landed on a small and petite frame sitting on the throne. The figure had her head tilted down as she toyed with her dagger. She had black paint surrounding her eyes and a gold emblem just in the center of both her eyes, which made her emitted a commanding vibe.

Slowly, Lexa’s gaze shifted upward and both held their stares. One unexpected and the other expected. 

“Lexa?” Clarke’s eyes could be compared to saucers if possible. She didn’t hide her surprise. There was a part of her that was relief and another fear. Relief because Lexa was alive and she was sitting just across her. Fear because the last time she saw Lexa, she was injured and was kidnapped by the grounders. And now, she’s the commander? 

Just by Clarke’s presence, Lexa’s breath hitched. In the cheesiest way it can be put was, Clarke took Lexa’s breath away. Even if her blonde hair was filled with dirt and grits, she still looked gorgeous in Lexa’s eyes. Her face had a few cuts on them, it showed her that Clarke was trying to survive down on the ground and obviously it wasn’t easily; she learnt that the hardest way possible. They stared at each other for a moment, no eyes blinked. Then finally Lexa had the courage to open her mouth and say something. 

“Clarke.” She made sure that she didn’t break her _heda_ mask. Her voice came out so impassive and cold that Clarke actually flinched and took a step back. 

“You’re alive?” It sounded like a statement more than a question. “And you’re the commander now?” Again, it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Lexa, what’s going on?” Clarke pleaded. It was so refreshing to finally hear Clarke’s voice after so long. That huskiness and edge in it made Lexa’s skin crawled.

“What’s going on is that you burnt half of my territory, the land your people dwells on.” Lexa fired back. “What is your offer, Clarke of the Sky People?” Her eyes were dark, no longer the light shade of green that she used to have. 

Lexa gave a glance at Indra who was just beside her. Understanding the hidden statement, Indra went out and brought Anya back in with both Abby and Marcus. She pushed them down to a kneeling position. 

Abby’s eyes widen just as big as Kane, but there was a knowing look in her. “Lexa? I thought you were dead. Clarke told us over the radio that you were kidnapped.” Kane said while Abby just kept silent. Lexa tilted her head up in a commanding gesture. “ _Breik emo au._ ” (Release them.) She directed towards Anya who protested. “ _Heda-_ ” Anya snarled but with one quick look from Lexa she did as she was told.

“So it is true.” Abby said which Lexa replied with her head slightly tilted to the left showcasing confusion. “What is true? What’s going on? Lexa, what are you-” A screeching scream interrupted Clarke. 

“LINCOLN!!” Indra and the guards immediately had their swords drawn ready to face the threat. Lexa got up and ran out towards the sound. 

During her four weeks of unending lectures and trainings, she was warned about Mount Weather. Which is what surprised her as Jaha had told the delinquents to get there to be able to survive. The tales and stories included _their_ people being kidnapped every so often and would never return back. Some would return as monsters and would rip through anything in their way and that the only thing that would cure them would be death. She had been told of how one would kill their own family who had turned into a reaper because they believe it was the only way to cure them. _Aria_ had made it clear that the _Maunons_ were a huge threat and would continue to be so. Tales of how they let out toxic gas to poison anyone in their way and gave no mercy to the fallen bodies as they tugged them inside the mountain. How the grounders are juiced up and their pale bodies thrown out like debris.

* 

Octavia being, Octavia did not follow the rules the grounders had set up and decided to slip away and stray into the woods. It was a lot hillier than she thought. She believed Lincoln might be there somewhere since he mentioned how much he loved being in nature and being surrounded by the trees. It was therapeutic for him. Octavia was enjoying the gentle breeze across her cheeks and the hoots of birds. She didn’t give a damn about the council or the Ark. So she strode across trees after trees, all of a sudden she heard faded grunts and groans. It didn’t sound like someone was running and had let out grunts from being tired. It sounded monstrous. Her hand slowly itched up to the dagger Lincoln had specifically given her for self-defense. 

Most of the times, whenever you hear something threatening, the smart thing to do was to get the hell out of there, but Octavia wasn’t the typical person, so she crept even closer to the sound. She had contemplated in her mind whether she was being heroic or just simply stupid. She hid herself behind a tree and waited. The groans grew louder and nearer, it sounded familiar to her. She got out from behind the tree and was ready to show off her moves she learnt from Lincoln only to face, Lincoln. Though it wasn’t a happy reunion, she could see his eyes were red and had sunken. Blood was everywhere on his face and body parts. His clothes were ripped off displaying cuts that were splattering in blood. His teeth barred and were ready to bite her. He growled and it wasn’t pleasant. 

“Lincoln? What’s wrong?” He did not listen. _This is not him. He’s not in his head right now. Why is he like this?_ He replied with a growl and lunged towards her.

Octavia tried to remember all the defense moves Lincoln taught her. She did not expect to learn those moves from Lincoln to defend herself from Lincoln. She immediately blocked an attack from him. It seemed like whatever that made him this way also made him pretty unstable. He couldn’t even walk in a straight line. She didn’t realize that he took advantage of her as he dove towards her again. This time she didn’t move away quick enough resulting in them both careering down the small hill with Lincoln perched on top of Octavia trying to bite her.

“Lincoln! Can you hear me? Lincoln it’s Octavia!” She tried to get some sense back into him but he glared in return. It was a new sight for Octavia because Lincoln was calm; he was patient and was hard to anger. This sight was the total opposite of it all and it had left her in shocked. As he snarled once again and was ready to bite her flesh off, she pushed forward and got on her feet. Octavia dashed back towards the village with Lincoln trailing closely behind her. 

Her legs were about to give out and she slowed down as she neared the village, which gave Lincoln an advantage as he got even closer to her. She let out an extremely loud scream, “LINCOLN!” 

She raced towards the delinquents who were equally shocked at the sight. It didn’t take long as Octavia saw a petite figure raced out of the tent followed by Indra, Anya, the two guards, and Clarke trailing behind with Abby and Marcus. Even though the two were basically not in chains anymore, they could still feel the stares of the people piercing through the back of their heads. 

“ _Ripa._ ” Indra gritted her teeth and nudged at the two guards who immediately went after Lincoln and tried to hold him down. He thrashed around in the guards’ arms attempting to bite them; two wasn’t enough, so Lexa screamed towards other guards who came running at their _heda_ ’s command. By now the delinquents had already taken a good look at her and knew who she was. 

“ _Heda_.” A warrior who was holding Lincoln down called out for her. Lexa knew what she had to do; Anya even side-eyed her but she pretended to have not seen it. She walked towards the thrashing body on the ground and drew out her sword. She heard gasps from everyone who was watching including Clarke. It wasn’t expected, who would’ve seen this coming from Lexa. 

“ _Yu gonplei ste odon._ ” She muttered. Octavia was crouched down beside Lincoln. She was evidently crying really hard seeing how Lincoln was struggling in the arms of others. She thought the grounders would help him, but as soon as she saw the commander, who after taking a closer look, she realized it was Lexa, drew out her sword and muttered that sentence, she immediately cried harder. Lincoln taught her a few basic things in the grounders’ culture and she knew that if someone said that statement, it meant death.

“NO! NO!” She cried and immediately stood in front of Lexa acting as a barrier between her and Lincoln. 

Clarke ran towards Lincoln and kneeled beside him, checking his vitals. His pulse was extremely weak, but it was there. She ripped his shirt open to give him some air. Immediately, pink foam flooded his mouth and he began coughing; he was choking on himself. “He’s going through withdrawals. We can fix this.” She looked back up at the grounders who were ready to slash a sword into his chest. “Lexa-” Anya cut her with a growl, “You do not have the rights to call the commander by her first name other than her title.”

Clarke gave Lexa a pleading look before sighing and stood up, “Commander, I believe you know that my mother will be able to fix this.”

“Those who are about to die will say anything.” Indra said through her gritted teeth 

“ _Shof op, Indra_.” Lexa said sharply in reply, but she did not stop and edged closer to Clarke with her sword drawn pressing onto Clarke’s stomach. “You burnt half of my village and now you’re trying to get in the way of my people-”

“ _Em pleni_.” Lexa said in a loud voice surprising everyone even herself. Indra was shocked at the imposing aura the new commander had and backed down immediately. “ _Moba, heda_.” 

Lexa paid no attention to her as she turned back to Clarke and said, “Show me.” She was aware of the miracles the technologies on the Ark had done. It was a miracle itself to be able to survive in what can be assumed as an enclosed metal cage up in space where there was no oxygen. Lexa wanted to walk to Clarke and stand near her, but Anya’s voice stopped her.

“We cannot just simply trust these _Skaikru_ easily. Do not make me question your loyalty, _heda_.” 

Lexa paused in her step and turned to look back at Anya. She opened her eyes wider and tilted her chin up with her lips pursed. “I am the commander. No one questions my loyalties.” She put on her most threatening face and voice as she leaned into Anya. She could tell that the others were more scared of her now. “Do not forget your position, Anya. You may be my _fos_ , but you are not the commander.” Just like Indra did a while ago, she backed down and had her head bowed. A part of her was proud of how her _seken_ had put on such a great mask, but the other was afraid that she might fall for the ways of the _Skaikru_ since she had been with them for basically her whole life. 

Lexa knew that the grounders were afraid of technologies because the _Skaikru_ had the same tech as the _Maunons_ who had abused it to annihilate the lives of the grounders. 

“I have seen their ways.” Lexa said no more as she gestured for Clarke to continue. 

“Mom?” 

“We need to get him in the medbay. Jackson and many others are still inside.” Abby replied as she rushed towards Clarke on the ground. 

“You are not allowed to take our people-” Anya once again said. 

Lexa growled, “Show me.” So they did. Anya and Indra weren’t impressed; they couldn’t hide their anger as Lexa asked the guards to carry Lincoln inside the main part of the Ark. 

It couldn’t fit everyone inside, so all the delinquents and Raven waited outside the ship. All fidgeting with their fingers and questioning what the hell had happened. 

“So… That’s Lexa?” A voice asked and everyone came together for a hush gossiping session. Bellamy stood aside with Raven and Finn. He had been avoiding coming face to face with the council as much as possible. And he noticed how Jaha wasn’t with them. _Didn’t the grounders asked for the leader? Isn’t Jaha the leader?_  

Before Lexa could enter, a hand was up across her chest stopping her. “Let me, _heda_.” Gustus walked in first before signaling to Lexa. 

“ _Em klir, heda_.” (All clear, commander.) 

“Bring in a _fisa_.” Indra shouted to the nearest warrior who scrambled to her order. He returned with a healer named Nyko. He was Lincoln’s brother and had followed the trail of _Skaikru_ inside the medbay.

As Lexa entered the room, she reminisced the last time she was there, to get a check up from Abby because a horrible flu had infected many people on the Ark. She also remembered that this place was the place where she first met Clarke. She was so little back then and had no concept of love or whatever it was called. All she remembered was sitting on one of the beds as she got her blood drawn. She remembered being scared of the needle and Clarke had came to her and put her hand across her left cheek to hide her view from the needle. She talked to her throughout the whole process. Lexa snapped out of her daydream as Anya nudged her hard on the ribs. 

The guards laid Lincoln down on the metal bed and moved to surround the room. Abby immediately restrained him to the bed. They’ve had to restrain a few people a couple of times, but nothing was as severe and mysterious as this case. Clarke could tell that the warriors were being extra careful as they were in a strange environment. The walls were all metal and there was a constant beeping sound. Octavia was already by Lincoln’s side, crying and asking Abby if he was going to die.

Jackson came out behind a door after catching a glimpse of Abby. It looked like he was hiding behind it. “What’s going on?” He said quietly as a guard pointed a sword towards his chest. Lexa knew who he was so she gave the guard a quick nod and told them to let Jackson through. 

“Clarke, you said that he was going through withdrawals.” Abby said. She began checking his arms and neck. And that was where she located a noticeable needle scar. “He’s been injected with something.”

Abby opened his eyelid with her thumb and point fingers, “His pupils are unresponsive and they’re extremely bloodshot.”

“Jackson, tie off his arms. Tie it as tight as you can.” Jackson obliged. Nyko stepped in. He put his palm on Lincoln’s forehead. “He’s burning.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small bottle with some sort of liquid in it. 

“What’s that?” Abby asked. “It’ll help bring down his fever.” Nyko opened the bottle and tipped it gently into Lincoln’s mouth. As soon as all the liquid disappeared, he started lashing around on the metal bed. Octavia’s cries grew louder. He grunted hard and his eyes widen with pupils blown. 

“Hold him down!” Abby commanded and Clarke obeyed. “What’s happening? Why isn’t it working?” Clarke exclaimed. Abby held her fingers on his pulse point, “His heart stopped.” 

Octavia held onto his hand, cries of pleading to not go came out of her mouth. He was the only thing that kept her sane on the ground and she would be damn to let him go that easily.

Abby pressed both her hands together and started pushing hard against his chest. 

She turned towards Nyko, “You’re their healer?” He nodded. “I want you to tilt his head back.” And Nyko did so. “Now pull his chin down to open his airway.” 

She continued the same gesture on his chest a few more times before stopping. “You’re stopping. What’s wrong?” Octavia said with her tear stained face. Abby gave her an apologetic look, “I’m sorry.” She paused, “He’s gone.” 

“No, it’s not possible. You’re wrong!” 

“You’re out of time. And you lied.” Anya said, anger seeping through her words. She had her hand on the hilt of her sword the whole time. “No! No, it’ll work. Mom, use the defibrillator.” Clarke said as she tried to push the crash cart towards Abby. “Clarke, I don’t think it’s-” 

“Mom, just do it!” 

Abby pulled out the conducting gel and spread it across his chest. She powered on the machine and rubbed the two paddles together. She placed one of the paddles above and on the left side of his heart and the other slightly beneath and to the right. Lincoln’s chest arched as she hit him with the paddles. His heart was still not beating. 

“It’s not doing anything, you’re just torturing him!” Indra said. “I’ll kill you all.” Lexa gave her another threatening look. Though, she was starting to be skeptical of this method. She had heard of it and had even studied a bit of it before the council locked her up. 

“Hit him again!” Clarke exclaimed. Abby did so, and his chest arched even higher, and he started to regain conscious. He gave a few rough coughs and his eyes opened slowly. Lincoln groaned and gasped for air.

“Lincoln.” Octavia said softly towards him as she cupped his face. He was trying to take in his surroundings. The last time he remembered was the yellow fog, waking in a tunnel and getting injected with some red substance. The two stared at each other for a while. 

Octavia knew that she was definitely not going to give up Lincoln this soon. All this time on the ground, he had taught her to survive, unlike anyone on the Ark. He had made her feel welcome. Lincoln was equivalent to home. The home Octavia had always wanted. Even though it was way too early to say that she loved him, she knew that he had a special place in her heart. He was warm and always so welcoming. He was the only thing that kept Octavia on her toes and kept her sane. 

“Octavia.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell, I have absolutely no idea what I was writing during the "reviving" Lincoln scene.. I doctored so hard, didn't I. Had to do so much googling on this one and I'm sure, more googling in the nearby future because THANKS RAVEN FOR BEING SO SMART IN MACHINES AND BUILDING BOMBS.  
> Hope you guys enjoyed this update. Comment and kudos?????  
> I have 7 days left till new school year starts fuuuuu  
> Have a nice day!


	8. Negotiable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Hi..   
> This is a shorter update because I'm still trying to find a plot to build up to the back story. And..  
> Welcome to Mount Weather

Chapter 8: Negotiable 

“It was horrible, _heda_. They had our people locked up in cages, hung upside down, and they drained our blood. They called us the outsiders. Some of us, like me, and so many other _ripas_ you’ve seen are forcefully injected with this red substance. It makes you go crazy and you get addicted to it. After one dose, you want more.” Lincoln had explained in between harsh breaths. Lexa only nodded, storing that information in mind. 

“And what do they want from our blood?” Lexa asked. 

“The people in there, the _Maunons_ , they cannot come out. Their skin will burn.” 

“They’re not immune to the radiation, that’s why they’ve locked themselves up inside the mountain.” Clarke said after giving a few thoughts. She casted a look at Lexa. 

* 

“Lincoln’s recovery was…” Anya paused trying to find the right _gonasleng_ term, “impressive.” 

“No one’s survived such a fate before. From what I’ve heard, what I’ve been told, it was incurable. The only way to save someone who has turned into a _ripa_ was death.” Lexa said. 

Indra, Anya, Lexa, and Clarke were standing—well the other three were standing while Lexa sat on her throne, in the tent. According to Indra and Anya, reviving Lincoln wasn’t enough. They wanted vengeance for the dead. After a few minutes of arguments, Clarke was able to convince Indra and Anya to let Abby and Kane go. They’ve seen the capabilities of Abby as a healer and they hoped that it could be of good use for them as well, even if they didn’t really trust the _Skaikru_.

“It’s not complicated, really. We just have to keep them alive long enough for the drug to leave their system.” Clarke said, “I know we can do the same for the others.” 

Clarke could tell that gears were turning in Lexa’s head. Lexa had her eyes fixed on the ground for a while before finally looking back up at Clarke. How she missed her, it was evident in the way she stared at Clarke. 

Lexa turned towards Indra, the woman was about to combust into fiery yells again. She knew she was in command of everything, but she had to put _her_ people first. 

“Clarke, you may have your truce.”

“But _heda_!” Anya and Indra both protested, quite loudly and Lexa did not like it at all. 

“ _Bants!_ ” They gave Lexa a look of disbelief. She gave another glare at the two guards inside who also scrambled their way out of the tent. 

Now that she was alone with Clarke, she wanted to settle things clearer. 

“Lexa, please tell me what is going on? How did u manage to be…” Clarke paused not really knowing what this position of hers was. “This?” 

“Clarke, I am no longer the Lexa you knew on the Ark. I am now Lexa, the Commander of the 12 clans on the ground. I wish to know everything as well. It seems there are things people are hiding from me. Who I really am. But I have yet to find the truth to all the swarming questions in my head. I cannot simply dismiss, this- this incident as if nothing happened. I cannot justify for my people if I let your people go without anything in return.” 

Clarke stood rigid in front of Lexa as she spoke with so much conviction in her voice; she finally realized this person on the throne really wasn’t the Lexa she held onto in the dropship or the girl sitting in the medbay of her mother getting a shot. 

“There is a law that we follow. It’s called, _jus drein jus daun,_ which means, blood must have blood.” 

“No, I am not letting you kill my people. They’re your people too, Lexa. How could you say that with no emotions at all?” 

“Did you forget, I was locked up, Clarke. So were you. They were never my people. I am not being heartless, maybe I am, but this is the truth. The semi-truth that I known of. And we will find out the whole truth, together.” Lexa said with finality and turned her head towards the opening flaps of the tent. Her mouth opened, ready to yell out whatever command she had in mind, but loud screams were heard once again. She sprinted towards Clarke and got in defense mode, covering her up afraid that whatever happened outside was going to harm Clarke. Lexa stood in front of Clarke and had her arms around her. 

But nothing came. The loud noises outside died down. The shadows of her guards that could be seen standing outside the tent were gone. 

They stood amidst each other’s arms for a little while longer with Lexa’s eyes fixed on the entrance of the tent and sometimes around, looking for any oncoming threats. But it had grown way too silent for anything good to have happened. 

Clarke let go of Lexa’s arms and dashed outside without listening to her warnings.

“CLARKE!”

She ran out anyway and Lexa blindly followed behind closely. 

They looked around, finding no one. Then a huge clank was heard. The metal door of the space station opened and Anya was the first one out. 

“What happened?” Lexa asked.

“The _Maunons_.” Anya growled the reply. “The yellow fog did this, _heda_. And it looks like most of our warriors are gone.” 

The other delinquents peeped out of the door, after realizing it was clear, they all walked out together. 

“How did you manage to get the others inside?” Clarke asked. Anya just glared at her and did not reply. So Raven answered, “Well, both Miss Stubborn here didn’t want to go inside the ship, but I forced them in anyway. When the fog was dispersed, we didn’t really know what to do, so we all ran into the ship. I had to drag these two inside.” 

“Where is Gustus?” Lexa seethed. A guy quickly ran out of one of the many houses in the village. “I’m here, _heda_.” She did not urged for anymore details and nodded her head in acknowledgement. 

Clarke wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but it was gone after she looked at all the familiar faces of the delinquents, finding a few of them missing. 48, specifically, including Monty, Jasper, Miller, Finn, Harper, and a few other unfamiliar faces to Clarke.

“Where’s Finn?” Clarke asked Raven. She expected Raven to have noticed his absence, but it seemed like she didn’t. “What?” Raven looked around the group. It was true; a few of them were missing. “And also some of my warriors and people.” Lexa said standing behind Clarke. 

“ _Heda_ , the yellow fog has never come close to any villages.” Indra said. 

“But now it has.” Lexa looked around then continued, “This is an act of war.” 

* 

Monty woke up and realized he was in some sort of ward and had an IV in his arm. The light was brightly shining against his face. It reminded him of the artificial lights up in the Ark. He wasn’t used to it anymore after spending the month on the ground. The whole room was white; his clothes were white. He took the IV off and began pacing around, not sure of what to do. He walked to the door and looked outside, then he saw Jasper in the room across his. He then read a sign beside the door. _Mount Weather Quarantine._ And realized where he was.

Down the hallway was more rooms, all 48 delinquents in each individual room. 

Monty banged on the door trying to get Jasper’s attention and it did. They were mouthing words of confusion and “Where are we?” to each other. They both then continued to bang on the door in hope that someone would let them out, but no one did. Their silent conversation continued on till later in the day. 

Someone in a protective suit, from head to toe, was sent to let the 48 go. “I’m Maya.” The girl in the overall suit took Jasper’s hand and shook it. He looked enchanted by her immediately. 

According to the button in the elevator, they were taken to level 5; they were currently on level 3. The 48 were then led to a room with the number 505 imprinted on the door. It was called the _Residence_. 

Jasper looked thrilled to be here. According to him, who wouldn’t? 

* 

“Your packet contains everything you need to know about Mount Weather, which I promise is not as confusing as the map on page one makes it look.” 

The 48 stood in a cafeteria-like room as a girl named Keenan gave them an orientation tour on the facilities inside the mountain. It seemed perfect; it looked perfect. The place was everything the delinquents would wish for. Food, bed, clothing—everything they needed. 

“You came from level 3, which houses our medical facility.” 

“Where’s Clarke?” Monty asked the nearby. 

Monty actually expected Finn to ask about her, but he didn’t. He was busy flirting with the girl who just gave us a speech not caring what was going on at all. 

“She’s not here.” Jasper said. “She didn’t make it.” 

“What do you mean she didn’t make it? We didn’t come here voluntarily.” He muttered. 

“Don’t start anything Monty. We’re given a home now. Be grateful.” Jasper hissed. 

Monty kept staring at the map they were given even as Jasper pulled him to the table. 

They situated themselves in one and feasted. “You have to try this chocolate cake.” Jasper moaned as he pushed a plate towards Monty. 

“Why do you have a frown on your face? Look around Monty, no one is trying to kill us.” Jasper poked him in the ribs. 

“Don’t you think this is too, I don’t know, perfect to be real?” 

“Stop being delirious. Don’t ruin it for us.” 

Monty got up from his seat having no more of Jasper’s ridiculous happiness. It was surreal; it couldn’t true. He could see Finn flirting with another girl from his peripheral. _Raven isn’t here_. 

Monty wandered around the hallways; it was vaguely similar to the Ark. Metal walls confining them. He looked at his map again. _There’s no exit._ He ended up in the residence alone. The others were probably still feasting on the food—he won’t deny that it was good. But it was too good to be true. His eyes were fixed onto the piece of paper in his hand, still wondering why there was no exit and walked right into a sharp metal edge of the bunker bed. 

Monty jumped back in surprise and hissed in pain. He had managed to cut a horizontal line straight up his wrist. Blood poured out of the gash, it looked deep. With nothing to help stop the blood, he walked out of the room. He folded the map and put it in his pocket. 

Not knowing where to go, he roved around until he met an elderly man. “Monty Green?” His voice was soft and inviting. “I’m President Dante Wallace.” He reached out his hand waiting for it to be returned. Monty shook it, “How do you know my name?” He did not receive an answer but a smile.

“Let me take you to the medical room. Your hand looks like it needs some treatment.” 

* 

“Tell me more, Lincoln.” 

Clarke, Lexa, Anya, Indra, Abby, Raven, you count it, were in the _Trikru_ ’s meeting room. A huge table situated itself in the middle of the room with Lexa standing before them all. 

“I’m sorry, _Heda_. That is all I remember before turning.” Lincoln hung his head low. 

“Let him rest would you? He’s still really weak.” Octavia cut her and received a look of murderous glares from both Anya and Indra. 

“Do not talk to our _Heda_ that way.” Indra stepped forward towards Octavia who took a few steps back, actually scared of Indra. Though it did not stop her from talking. 

“Why can’t I talk to her that way? She’s our people and I know her.” 

“Octavia please.” Clarke pleaded. “I’m sorry. Just let her be.” 

“You’re sorry? Clarke, we did nothing wrong. 

Anya “How did you get out? Is there some sort of hidden passage way?” Anya took her turn and asked. 

Realization hit Lincoln, “Through a tunnel. It was hidden behind the bushes.” 

“Are you sure this recent occurring is of the _Maunon_?” 

“Yes, _Heda_. I am evident. We do not have _tek_ like them. We do not know how the gas works.” 

“And that they are alive?” 

“It can be, _Heda_. I am not certain of us. But for the _Skaikru_ , yes. They are very much alike in so many ways.” 

“We’ll discuss this later on. We need to honor the dead, build a pyre.” Lexa directed the last statement to Anya and Indra before walking out but paused, “Clarke, take your time and talk with the others then meet me in the tent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's established that I am a very irresponsible person. 10 chapters isn't happening. Currently writing chapter 9 and hopefully I slap my lazy butt self and do it fast.   
> New school year starts tomorrow. You can feel the excitement seeping out of my eyes. They're tears.


	9. Cages (Noun and Pronoun)

Chapter 9: Cages (Noun and Pronoun)

 

The sedative faded away as Monty blinked back the low and grim light from his eyes of a place so unfamiliar. He heard the door open and faked sleep. A hand crept onto his wrist, _the cut_ , and felt a patch applied onto it. As the hand retreated and the door slammed shut, Monty’s eyes fluttered open slowly. 

He took in his surroundings. _The medical lab_. He noticed that he wasn’t in his normal clothing as well, but a hospital gown. A figure lying on a bed next to his startled the daylight, the artificial light out of him. The man had some sort of cap on his left chest and two tubes connected it to the machine above the bed. Red liquid was running through the tubes. _What is this?_  

He got up quickly resulting in a slight dizziness and tried to balance himself back on his feet. He wanted to get out but it seemed like the only door out was locked. He needed a key card to go through. 

Monty walked closer to the man on the bed, he was no medical expert, nowhere near Abby or even Clarke, but he knew that this wasn’t natural. This red liquid, it looked like blood. He observed the man’s hands and face. He grimaced as parts of it looked burnt.

They were the only two in the room and the other one was still knocked out. Monty couldn’t bore looking at burnt flesh any longer so he looked around the room, trying to find a way out. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw what looked like to him a removable circular plate. He stood below it for a while contemplating whether he should really try removing it or not. This place didn’t seem realistic to him, it was way too dreamy? Was it the word? There was no way that they took them in just to be guests. 

Going against his thoughts, Monty removed the plate and crawled forward. He got to the point where he was facing another plate; he pushed it and got out. 

What he came face to face to was what he had not expected at all resulting in Monty flinching back and hiding his gasp. His eyes traced the two hanging bodies and saw tribal tattoos. _They’re the grounders_.

The two grounders were hung upside down with tubes running all over their bodies. Monty’s eyes continued following the tubes around and it led to the wall beside the two. Blood ran through the tubes connected to a machine. _It looks similar to a dispenser._ Monty shivered at the thought. 

Then it hit him, the groans and the pungent odor. The sounds were filled with pain and fright. Struck by panic and shock, Monty turned around slowly. An abhorrent sight faced him. Cages and cages were stacked up onto each other with at least 2 grounders per each. It made him feel horrible to think of it this way, but they looked like animals ready to be slaughtered. He froze in his steps. It horrified him to the bones and he could feel horripilation crawling up his skin. 

* 

“Where were you?” Monty asked Jasper as he entered the room. 

“Maya… Something happened. And they asked me if I could do a blood transfusion for her. So I did.” Jasper’s voice faltered. 

“There’s more to this, what is it?”

“President Dante was there… He said the people in here can’t go out. They’re not immune to the radiation. He also said that my blood, well, our blood and DNA ran the same gauntlet as the grounders. Actually 8 times better.” Jasper paused, but he had a determined look on his face. 

“Go on.” 

“And he wants us to volunteer. Our blood could help them get back on the ground.” 

The flashback of blood pouring into tubes from the grounders’ lifeless bodies hung upside down flooded Monty. He had to tell the others about it. It could be them sooner or later and he wasn’t going to allow such things. 

Monty stopped Jasper in between his sentence. He gave the boy a frown and deepened it as he explained what he had seen earlier that day. 

“I’m telling you the truth, Jasper!”

“Monty, stop it! You’re being absolutely delusional and you’re going to get us kicked out of here.” 

“That’s exactly what I want them to do.” 

“Don’t you dare.” Jasper couldn’t finish sentence before Monty pushed him aside and walked out. 

He had to do something, even if Jasper was foolish enough to be that easily convinced by these people. Monty definitely wasn’t up for being hung upside down any day of his life.

* 

“So, did she tell you how she became the leader of these savages?” Octavia said after Lexa and the others got out of the room. 

“You don’t get to say that, Octavia. Your boyfriend is one of them.” A voice came about in the herd of people squished inside the room only to receive a glare back.

Clarke didn’t bat an eye at their argument. It was useless. Currently the only commotion necessary to get attention was that they had unintentionally burned some parts of their village and their people. And someone had to resolve this damn thing before they kill us all. 

Well, it looked like even when they tried their best not to piss off the grounders, they did anyway. It wasn’t the delinquents’ fault, nor the Ark, but it had already happened and had to be resolved. 

Even if Lexa was the commander, it didn’t matter. Clarke had to go talk to Lexa. 

And Abby, it had been so long since she had seen her mother. How she wanted to embrace her and find comfort in her, but she couldn’t, not in their current situation or their past situation. 

“Mom, I need to go talk to Lexa.” 

* 

To the 47, it looked like any other day they wanted it to be, but to Monty, he had to always stay alert, keep an eye or basically babysit the others all day. _This must be how Clarke feels. God, I don’t want to do this anymore. Anytime soon we may be like one of the grounders… Locked up in cages and… Brrr… Not thinking about it. Must find a way out of this place._

As if a light bulb appeared over his head, his gaze snapped from the table. His hand fumbled to find the map they were given. _I need to contact the radio. The damn radio Raven had and now that the main station of the Ark is down, I can just redirect the radio channel. First, I have to convince these people. Ain’t no stealing radios myself._  

“Where is Harper?” Monty asked as they situated themselves in the cafeteria and realizing that they were missing one person. It had been a while since she was gone and it didn’t feel right in his guts. It definitely did not feel right at all.

“She’s probably wondering around. Why are you so alarmed?”

“Because I don’t trust them and you should too.” 

“Can’t you just let it go? Please don’t destroy this for us, please Monty.” 

“I saw it with my very own eyes, what more can I say. You’re irrevocable and I’m going to make you realize that.” 

It didn’t take a day until Monty and Jasper realized that their people had been disappearing one by one. Leaving barely a dozen of them left. It was until Finn disappeared that they decided to take matters in their own hand. After a lot of persuasion, Jasper was finally cajoled.

Part of the reason why Jasper was finally convinced was because he was afraid; he could be the next one disappearing for who knows. 

Monty had been growing extremely anxious the past ticking minutes. He actually gave the blood donation a thought because he thought that they would be released afterwards. It still gave him chills whenever the image of the grounders stuck in cages came across his mind. It was ridiculous and inhumane the way these people were treating the grounders. 

He looked around at each of the remaining faces in room. He could see the panic in their facial features even if they tried to keep their composure. The tension in the room was way too thick; they could all smell it. It smelt of pure fear.

Then it struck him. Monty looked at Miller. _Isn’t he a thief? I mean we’re all criminals aren’t we?_ _This should be easy as pie. Or cake. Or whatever._

* 

After quietly staring at the map for God knows how long and discussing inaudibly among each other, a plan was finally settled. Now it was time to get the mission started. 

Miller sneaked and hid himself inside the guards’ room and waited for anyone to walk in. After a few minutes of waiting, he slid himself out of his hiding place. The room was filled with hazmat suits and radios charging in its places. 

As he was about to grab some radios he heard footsteps and immediately retreated back to his place. Miller stuffed himself in a giant closet fill with gigantic bottles of disinfectant that was used on the delinquents during their stay in the quarantine level. 

“Yes sir. Yes. Of course I got it cleared, sir. You have nothing to worry about. Those kids have absolutely no idea. We’re clear, sir. I’ll bring them one by one to Dr. Tsing.” 

A voice from the radio was heard, but it wasn’t clear enough for Miller to grab onto. It was a guy, not elderly, but from what they were calling him meant that he had a high status in this place. 

“Bring them all and put them in cages? You mean with the grounders?” 

Crackles from the radio again. 

“You built them their cages? Yes, sir, I apologize for questioning. I’ll bring them to 302 immediately.” 

 _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._  

Miller didn’t need to contemplate whether the guy was talking about them or not. It was obvious. Even after Monty desperately talked to them about what he had seen some of them were still skeptical, the food and bed blinded them. It was strange that their people were missing one at a time; they thought that they had volunteered to do a blood transfusion. But it kept going and those who were missing had never spoken a word about agreeing to blood donations. 

Thanks to the little crack in the closet, a small barely lit light shone through illuminating the closet enough to see the surrounding. He pulled the map Monty stuck into his back pocket out and squinted drawing enough light to see the map. 

Each room was labeled with 3 numbers according to their levels. The guy said 302, but there were no 302. It was on the medical level, the quarantine level as well. _And were they just talking about cages?_

This wasn’t the right time to hide in a closet full of disinfectant and ponder. Miller waited for the footsteps to fade and the door to slam. After a while and confirming that it was safe he slowly opened the door and tiptoed around the room. His crime on the Ark that got him locked up was stealing so, what could be so hard about this? Well he knew for sure that he wouldn’t just be locked up if he were caught.

Miller worked quickly, shoving radios down his shirt, and swiftly putting on a hazmat suit. He reached into the closet and pulled out one of the bottles of disinfectant to blend in with the others even more. After everything was ready, he stood still letting all the sounds die down and listened for any footsteps or anything that may be an upcoming threat. It was silent. The coast was clear, but he still had to make sure. 

He pulled the door open slowly causing a squeaky sound. His head poked out and looked right and left. For some reason, there were no cameras in any corner at all. It would be hard to identify him anyway since his face was covered. But one wrong move, the delinquents could be locked up in cages in an instant. 

With his heart pounding he tried to look normal. He didn’t take quick steps, but walked in a normal pace. Ahead was a camera, Miller kept his head down just in case. He had to be apprehensive in this situation. As he entered the elevator he took the suit off and had to carefully hide the radios. 

Once he was on level 5 he once again tried to walk in a normal pace and kept his face straight and of no emotions. But as soon as he opened the door to their room he let out a breath that he had been holding and shoved the radios in Monty’s face. 

The look on Monty’s face was priceless, but it wasn’t exactly the right time to admire each other yet. Miller grinned at him. “Told you, I got it.” 

His grin faded away as he remembered the conversation he had overheard. 

“We need to move quick. A guy came into the room while I was hiding and was talking on the radio with some dude about putting us all in cages.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh.. Hi.. Look at me, late as usual.   
> I was in Thailand a couple of days ago and god was it hard to find any sort of internet there.   
> I hope you enjoy this update. The next chapter would be focused on the delinquents in Mount Weather and how they're going to accomplish this mission of theirs. Lexa and Clarke will appear in it for a bit, but that's it.   
> Then it'll all be that iconic, Clexa war planning moment.


	10. Command Center

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy I update quite early this time. I am shocked. Finally the 10th chapter.. And guess what happened? They ki-

Chapter 10: Command Center 

“Guys, stay put. I’ll be right back. Jasper, you come with me to the command center. Miller, watch over the others. I’ll do my best to get the information out to the Ark as soon as possible. We can do this.” Monty stared at the others with conviction in his eyes. He knew he had the deaths of many to make up for if he failed. 

Jasper walked towards Miller and hugged him. Slowly he pulled a gun out from his back pocket and slid it into Miller’s hand. He said nothing, but gave a curt but determined nod before sliding outside with Monty.

They could tell that the guards were on their way to the residence and it was inevitable that they could tell the two were missing. Cameras were in each corner of their level. It was impossible to hide from it. So to look as normal as possible they decided not to. Rounding the corners of the hall they entered the elevator and pressed level 7. 

The two waited in silence; none of them saying a word. Monty glanced up at the glass panel as numbers popped up for every floor. As it hit level 5, he turned to Jasper and stared at the boy. His face showed no sign of being nervous. 

It was apparent to them that this was a life and death mission. If they do fail, the blood of many others will stain their hands.

“What do you need me to do?” 

“Watch the door. I’ll try to send a message over to the others. Now that the Ark is down, it’ll be even easier.” 

“Is it really true?” 

Monty stared at Jasper with no emotion in his eyes. He didn’t blink; he just stared. 

“I could show you, but it seems like we don’t have time for that at the moment. If you don’t trust me, feel free to back out.”

Jasper didn’t move. The elevator stopped at the lowest level, which situated the command center and the president’s office. The double door opened and Monty stepped out first. 

“Wait. We don’t have the key card. We can’t pass through the door.” Jasper said above a whisper. 

“Have you seen me man? Do you know me?” 

It was midnight; the air was stale just like it was up in the Ark. The delinquents had tried to schedule a time where no one would catch onto their plan. Everyone was sound asleep in the middle of the night, so they thought that it was the perfect time. 

They were aware of the cameras around them this time. The two had to risk it. By morning, the guards would’ve noticed their presence in level 7 and would notify whoever was in charge immediately, but he believed in Clarke. _She will save us._ So they took that huge risk because they know it would be worth it. 

“Go.”

Monty stood firm in front of the door to the command center. He looked at the security panel in front of him. Scanning it down with his eyes trying to look for anything he could fiddle with. His eyes caught onto something and smirked. _I guess they worry more about the door to the outside than the ones in the inside._

Jasper had his back to Monty, eyes darting back and fro. His chest heaved. He stood quietly waiting for Monty to do his thing. He could hear Monty pressing buttons on the panel. Curiosity got the best of him and he side-glanced to see what Monty was doing. To his surprise he saw him sliding a screwdriver out of his side pocket. _Where the hell did he get that? This smart…thing._ He observed Monty’s movement, unscrewing bolts and nuts, fiddling with wires, actually ripping wires, but he tried to not make it look too damaged.

Click

The door clicked open and Monty gave Jasper a smirk. “Have you seen me?” 

They trotted inside like little children going into amusement parks. Monty quickly made his way to the center of the room and sat down in front of huge monitors. 

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Jasper wondering around picking at things in drawers and shelves. He wondered what Jasper wanted to find in this place. 

“Hey, I found some sort of file.” 

Jasper lifted it up and showed Monty. He walked towards him and placed the file in front of Monty. It looked pretty worn out with haggard looking pages. 

Monty flipped the sheets not sure what he was actually looking for until he landed on a page that looked like an intricate design of the Mountain’s communication system. 

His eyes traced the drawing and something caught his eyes. 

“I think I found something.” Jasper squinted at whatever Monty was pointing at on the page. “That leads to an antenna on the ground.” He smiled. “If we can access the radio, we can send a message over the Arkwide channel, tell them we’re here. And if I can twig it further, then we can not only send a message, but speak to them through our radio without these people knowing as well. In the mean time, we should go ahead and send a message to the Ark’s channel.”

Monty glanced at the drawing again and began typing away on the keyboard. Jasper stood behind watching him in awe.

Fingers typing the keyboard in a fast speed and glaring at the monitor at the same time, Monty pressed the final button and pulled out a microphone nearby. He glanced behind him to a fidgeting Jasper. 

“I’ll give you the honor.” 

He got up from the chair and gestured Jasper to take the microphone. Jasper gulped. He sat down and pulled the microphone closer to him. “Press that button.” 

And he did.

“Mount Weather to the Ark. Mount Weather to the Ark. 47 of us are trapped inside Mount Weather. Please hurry.” 

* 

“Lexa?”

“Clarke.” 

It was way past dusk until Clarke finally gathered herself and entered Lexa’s tent. 

“You asked for me?” 

Lexa had her back to Clarke. Her backside seemed to have bulked up a bit since the last time Clarke had seen her. And she was in no doubt that other places had bulked up as well. She looked like she was sharpening her dagger. This time there were no guards inside, just Lexa. Even with her new profound muscle, she looked small and slender in the huge tent alone. 

“Yes.” 

“Well, I am here now.” 

Lexa turned around to face her. Her warpaint was still there and her lips twitched a bit as she faced Clarke. 

“I’m sorry.” Her lips barely moved. Clarke frowned in confusion. 

“I’m sorry I had to put you all in this situation. But there is nothing I can do. I’m sure Octavia must have filled you in on the grounder’s culture since she seemed to be extremely close with…what’s his name?” 

“Lincoln. Yes I’ve heard quite a bit.” 

“Judging by his tattoos, he’s from _Trikru_.” 

“I remembered him mentioning something about his clan. But what are you going to do about this?” Clarke’s eyes timorously shifted after mentioning the incident that happened this morning. 

“No Clarke. The question is, what are YOU going to do about this.” Lexa emphasized the “you”. It pained Lexa to put Clarke in this situation. It wasn’t even her fault nor the Ark’s fault that they had unintentionally burned down half the village. 

Clarke gave Lexa a pained look. She was shocked and couldn’t wrap her mind around what Lexa had just said. Truth be told, she couldn’t even look Lexa in the eye. This whole thing was ridiculous and Clarke thought that she could lean onto her for support because…wasn’t that what Lexa had given her all these time? 

“What do you mean, Lexa? I thought-” 

“I don’t know Clarke. I don’t know what’s going on. But I can’t look like I don’t know what’s going on. I am the Commander, these people depend on me, I protect them, and they protect me.” 

Her mind was a haze. Ever since they were on the ground so many things happened that it was hard to compensate this whole…thing. 

“But how did that happened? I don’t understand.” 

“I fought in the Conclave.” 

“Lincoln mentioned that you need to have certain necessities to be able to do so.” 

“I won’t lie and say that I do. Because I don’t, or maybe I do. As you can see, I don’t know. Ever since I was taken to the capital certain people have spoken to me as if they know me before. They know my name as soon as I appeared and they seemed to not be shocked by the fact that I won the Conclave. Gustus-” Lexa thought of what Gustus said when he first saw her. But she couldn’t finish her sentence before Clarke cut into her. 

“The one who threatened to slit my throat in front of your tent?” 

“He did?” Lexa frowned. _How dare he…_  

Clarke saw her frowned and gave her a look. It seemed that Lexa noticed as her eyebrows straightened back behind her warpaint. “He seemed to be pretty overprotective of you. I’m sure everyone is, but he seemed to be taking it personally.”

“He first showed up in my room a few hours after my ascension. The first thing he said to me was how long it had been and that I’ve grown up well. He seemed to know a lot of where I came from.”

“How is that possible? And why are you telling me all this?” 

Lexa didn’t answer. She didn’t dare to even think of the answer. At that moment, the ground seemed to interest her, as she never let her eyes wonder back up. 

“Lexa.” She felt a hand on her chin, lifting it up and she flinched backwards. Clarke looked at her, surprised. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” Clarke didn’t know what to say, mean to what? Her brows furrowed in concern towards the brunette. Lexa’s eyes depicted the forest. The gorgeous trees that she had been admiring and drawing ever since they crashed to the ground. Before she met Lexa, Clarke couldn’t imagine herself liking the color green. Come to think of it, she had been doing a lot of scenery drawings of trees ever since Lexa was captured.

Silence ate its way between them. As Lexa looked up, she realized how close they were standing, face-to-face. Her eyes shied away from Clarke and went back to the ground. She could see the concern radiating out of Clarke’s eyes, but she ignored it. Their propinquity scared Lexa. She couldn’t help glancing down at Clarke’s lips and Clarke knew because she was doing the same thing. 

They weren’t sure what was going on. All they knew was, here they were, in a huge tent, unyieldingly standing staring at each other’s lips. It all happened way too quickly for any one of them to have a second thought. They weren’t even sure who leaned in first; all they knew was that they were leaning into each other’s lips. 

Closer their lips went. Lexa could feel Clarke’s breath on her. She felt Clarke’s hand on her back pulling her even closer. Their bodies flushed against one another. Both their eyes closed simultaneously, ready for the contact. 

“ _Heda?_ ” A deep voice came and the tent flaps opened. Faster than the speed of light, Lexa backed away giving them a good amount of space between their bodies. The force made Clarke topple on her feet. 

Gustus appeared looking back and forth between the two with his eyes narrowed staring at Clarke. His eyes portrayed her as a threat once again. 

“ _Chit yu gaf?_ I did not give my permission for you to enter.” 

“ _Moba, Heda_. I was just checking in on you.” He turned towards Lexa and gave her a quick bow before staring Clarke down again.

“ _Em pleni_. You do not get to stare at her as if you want to slide your sword into her chest.” 

Clarke felt her heart skipped a beat. She thought was normal since a few seconds ago they were barely a few centimeters apart from each other. She didn’t know whether she should be annoyed by the interruption or shocked that a little moment ago she was about to kiss Lexa. Maybe her emotion was to be blamed, but it felt so right. It felt like the Lexa she had grabbed onto during the dropship crash.

It felt like the moment she first saw Lexa. She was known around the Ark to be an orphan, but she never questioned where her parents were. Though Lexa wasn’t the only orphan on the Ark and Clarke blamed their laws for it. There were many of those who became orphans after the council floated their parents. 

Lexa first made an entrance in her life when she visited Abby’s medical bay for a check up. The girl was so small and had no idea what was going on. It seemed to be her first time getting a medical check up due to the ongoing contagious flu on the Ark. 

She remembered sitting on a chair beside her mother as a little but taller brunette girl entered. “Lexa Woods?” She heard her mother called the girl who gave a shy nod as a response. 

“Here have a seat on this bed.” The girl’s little feet walked slowly towards the bed and jumped up to take a seat. “It seemed like this is your first check up, I assume. I’ve never seen you in the bay before, have I?” Abby spoke in a soft voice and stroked the brunette’s hair. Once again, she gave a small shy nod avoiding eye contact with the doctor. “Here’s the procedure, Lexa. I will need to take some of your blood. It won’t hurt much, I promise.” Abby took the girl’s arm and dabbed some alcohol on it. Lexa’s hands were shaking. And Clarke who sat just close enough to witness the motion stood up and walk to the space beside Lexa. 

“Here, hold my hand. It’ll only hurt a bit, but trust me my mom is a great doctor. I’ll cover your eyes.” Clarke held her little hand out and a shy hand rose to grip onto hers. With her free right hand, she covered the side of Lexa’s eyes hiding her view from the needle Abby was sliding into her arm. 

It then the first time that blue met green. And it was a moment that the two can never forget. 

She had a great time reminiscing the memory only to be interrupted by a growl from Gustus.

“Because I want to, _Heda_. _Ai nou na teik yu wich in disha Skayon_. You may have grew up with them, but-” 

“But nothing, _Gostos_.” She gave him a sharp look. It looked like her tone scared Clarke as she winced at the sound. She didn’t know what Gustus had said before… _what? Why would it be a problem if she grew up with us? She was born on the Ark… right?_ All she could do was stare at the two as they had a heated argument in a language that she was aware of, thanks to Lincoln, but did not spare the time to try and learn it. Funny that she thought it wasn’t necessary.

“Now that we’ve come to this subject. I ask you, as _Heda_ , to enlighten me about what you had just said.” 

“ _Heda,_ I can’t-” 

“ _Dula chit ai biyo_! Do you dare to disobey your _Heda_ , _Gostos?_ ” Lexa lifted to chin up with her lips pursed in order to look as commanding as possible. 

“ _Nou, Heda_.” He had his head bowed. 

“You said that in time, I would find out. It seems that time isn’t doing me any favor. So I ask again, do enlighten us.” 

“Us? But _Heda_ , you can’t possibly let this _Skayon_ -” He shut up as Lexa glared at him. 

She didn’t want to treat anyone like she was in any way superior to them. Ironically, she was superior to them. Nonetheless, she wanted to know all these things that the ground have been keeping it a secret from her. It sounded like it was way more than just one secret and she had to find out. 

Clarke stood beside her, oh how she wanted to grab her shoulder and crashed their bodies together. She missed the warmth that Clarke radiated and how she was able to feel it before Gustus had rudely intruded them. She gave Clarke one last glance and could see the confusion in her beautiful ocean blue eyes. 

It was obvious that the lessons Titus had given her were useless. Nothing could stand a chance between those stunningly beautiful bright blue eyes. 

“Now, tell me.” She said one last time, her eyes softening while looking into his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope, the kiss is not happening yet. Back story coming up in the next chapter.  
> I revealed the part where Lexa entered the medbay and she reminisces her first meeting with Clarke a few chapters ago, well I just had to put it in here too but in Clarke's perspective since I thought it was cute. Was it cute? Little Lexa afraid of the needle.  
> Chit yu gaf? - What do you want?  
> Ai nou na teik yu wich in disha Skayon. - I cannot let you trust this Sky Girl.


	11. Polaris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italicized because it's a flashback.  
> Remember guys, it was only 97 years ago. So it wasn't THAT long ago, long enough for one or two generation right. This is entirely made up, and most likely does not make sense. But it's The 100 am I right? What else makes sense after Lexa's death?

Chapter 11: Polaris 

_She was a successful neuroscientist. A pretty young one too. At 26, she believed that she found the pathway to access a human mind, only for it to fail._

_She was 27 when she aboard Polaris, a space station that she owned. There she tried once again, creating another version of what she thought would “make mankind better”._

_She was 27 as she witnessed her invention destroy the whole humankind from space._

_She was 29 when she injected herself with a serum she created. It would seemingly help one become immune to radiation and had turned her blood black._

_It was later that year when she escaped in a pod to earth after declining the launch of Polaris with the rest of the 12 stations in fear of having her second invention destroyed. With a stiff pain in her neck, she fled._

_She was shocked to see that she could breathe the air on the ground. Which meant that the serum worked. Though it wasn’t the only surprise she got. There were civilizations in every corner. But unlike pre-apocalypse, the ground wasn’t overpopulated._

_She could see them struggle with their daily lives, trying to fight off the radiation, blown with guilt she in turn declared that she would help them survive._

_She was Bekka Pramheda._

_And it all started from there as Bekka Pramheda spent over 10 years building back civilization._

_She built trust with the grounders, established a new language, and the Conclave for future commanders_ — _the Conclave before the requirement of being a nightblood. But most importantly, she found love. So unexpected that she didn’t know what to do, on many occasion where it almost ruled over her._

_In the process of it all, the grounders were able to branch themselves out into 12 clans. Each significantly different from each other, some hates one another to the bone, and one in every direction of the place._

_The ground was changing._

_It took a while, but she didn’t exactly plan on having her first child at that age. It had been over 20 years since she was on the ground; she was almost 50 by now. What could be blamed though? She had over tens of thousands of grounders to lead and had no time for such domestic thing._

_In fact, she didn’t plan on having kids at all. It all happened in the spur of the moment. She was sure that the anti-radiation serum could be genetically inherited. And it was, but not with her first child, who was a daughter._

_And then her second child came along, another daughter, a nightblood. Her eldest was already around 10 year old._

_Finally, her third and last child, another daughter who she named Liylah was also a nightblood. Only then she realized that 5% of the girls on the ground were mutated. They carried an extra appendage and were able to impregnate other women. It shocked her as a scientist, she may not be a doctor and she knew it was strange. But anything was possible due to the intense level of radiation._

_The grounders thought it was normal, but she had only noticed the difference in her third daughter, she actually gave birth to Liylah thinking that she finally had a son, only to find out how wrong she was. Liylah was originally named Nikko, which was then changed to a more feminine name._

_*_

_Everyone respected their Pramheda to her bones. They would worship the ground she walked on. She was their savior, the only reason they were ever alive at the moment. She was their God; no one could be higher than she was. She was the law; whatever she said was right nothing that came out of her mouth were wrong to the people._

_After finding out that her daughters had black blood, she made a decision on a legal reform. “Natblida” was the term the grounders used for them; they were sacred because only the commander had it and now, her daughters as well. The people took it quite well, establishing the fact that a “natblida” was the only one worthy of becoming a commander._

_Which meant that they had to fight to their deaths. As soon as it was enforced she placed the two under strict training. Liylah was barely 5 and her elder sister was barely 10 at best._

_Bekka made sure she had a trusted right hand person, or what the people called “fleimkepa”. The “fleimkepa” was in charge of keeping the “Flame”, other than being a nightblood; one must have the “Flame” before ascending as the Commander. No one questioned what the “Flame” did or was. What Pramheda said, must be done without any interrogation because she was always right to them. That was what the grounders grew up learning and passed onto each other._

_She was reaching the old age and was sure that she won’t die in a battle or an assassin. They respected her too much as their savior to step any closer to her than 5 feet and to even dare try to overthrow her was unacceptable._

_Apart from ruling the ground and keeping it in order, she also spent time teaching her daughters the leftover knowledge she had left from being a scientist and also an engineer_ — _she did own Polaris after all._

_Her laws were strict, some would consider as brutal, but it was how they survived and it was how everyone was brought up. As much as she hated having her daughters kill each other for the throne, it was a must. It had to be done for the people to see how serious she was about the duty as Heda._

_But her daughters hated it, of course, especially the two youngest ones. However, Liylah had expressed her dislike to this particular commandment to her mother intensely many times. She was stronger than her sister, she got everything done quicker, learnt quicker, and her mother didn’t seem to be holding up to her age anymore. And it made her grew anxious, she didn’t want this._

_*_

_It was in the middle of the night, a silent breezy night where no sound could be heard and everyone was in their slumbers expecting to wake up to another great day with thankful spirits towards their commander for making it happen._

_However, that was not the case._

_The Conclave was set immediately at noon and the “natblidas” were settled in the center of all the people ready to take the title of the next commander._

_They were supposed to be sisters, but they weren’t. At this moment they weren’t, they were enemies fighting for their lives because it was the law._

_And nothing traumatized her more than standing in front of her dead sister. Her own sister with   her sword still sticking out of her chest. The very sword that she had trained with ever since she was little. A doll wasn’t what she had to pick up as a child. No. No, it was far from that._

_The cheers vibrated her eardrums. The people, her people, were cheering for her, and jumping in exhilaration for killing her own sister, her own blood. There were wide smiles on their faces all directed towards her. She hadn’t move from her spot. She couldn’t bore looking at the lifeless body on the ground in front of her._

_How could she, how could they be so ruthless. How could they find satisfaction in such horrendous action, how could they be jumping up and down as if their previous commander hadn’t just died the night before._

_And that was it._

_Liylah, Bekka Pramheda mous yong yongon was declared as the new commander at the age of 15._

_*_

_She was a mess; her mother and sister were gone. Her only family left was her eldest sister who her mother appointed as the “fleimkepa”. Even if she was still alive it didn’t feel like they had a connection. Liylah hated the law; she wanted nothing but peace and the need to demolish the Conclave. She grew stoic, she shut everyone out of her. Her eldest sister was becoming a nuisance, following every single decree given by their mother. She despised it. Due to her role as the “fleimkepa” she had every right to instruct her_ — _basically she was her adviser._

_It was scary; she was becoming her mother. She was ruthless and the people loved it. It gave them comfort and she grew to love that. Her people were first and she was second._

_After fighting off the voice in her head, her mother’s voice, her mother’s command, she finally gave in. Letting the voice inside her head guide her to become “the Commander of the people” according to what the voice quoted._

_She was doing so well. Her people were at peace and they were all happy. She didn’t need to think about the possibility of putting any kids in the Conclave. Everything was great, it wasn’t perfect, but they were all happy and that was all she asked for._

_When she reached her 20 summers, Liylah decided to take a trip around her ground. Going to each clan and seeing how they were doing. She had only stayed in the capital that she recently established so Liylah though it would be a good idea to see how her people were doing._

_They valued her just as much as they valued her mother. Their commander, their savior, the highest of them all._

_Her first stop was the Trikru territory, TonDC. The village itself was surrounded by trees, but where would it not be surrounded by trees. It seemed that the people of the Trikru were extremely skilled warriors. They all welcomed her warmly by the gate as she rode her horse with her back and chin straight._

_It was the “Commander’s posture and aura” according to many. It was what the voice told her to be. She knew it was her mother and she knew how it got there. There were many occurrences where she wanted to get it out, but she didn’t because she needed it to be the Commander._

_As the leader of the village, Regina, showed Liylah around, something caught her eyes, or more like someone did. The figure was on the fighting compound._

_Regina kept yapping away about how they were the most in ordered clan and they had the best warriors, but Liylah heard absolutely nothing._

_For so long, she had to keep it in herself, to not feel._

_At this point, she gave no crap to what the girl in front of her was saying any longer. Her eyes trailed to the figure still fighting with another guy, arguably twice her size and she was beating him._

_Cutting the poor girl off, Liylah walked towards the compound keeping her eyes on the girl with Regina following behind dumbfounded._

_Ultimately Liylah stopped in front of the two still fighting not noticing the presence of their Heda._

_Only with Regina shouting at them did they stop. The two abruptly turned and gave Liylah a respectful bow._

_“Moba Heda, I didn’t see you there. I was too focused.”_

_Her voice sent tingles to Liylah’s inside. Regina snarled and was about to start scolding the poor girl but Liylah stopped her with a raise of her hand._

_“What’s your name?”_

_“Victoria, Heda.” The girl replied with her eyes still on the ground, intimidated by their Commander’s presence._

_No doubt to her that this was the moment she lost the wall she had built to shield herself from these type of threat._

_Feeling bold, Liylah stepped closer to the girl. Her action’s contradicted her fighting skills a while ago as she stepped back before Liylah could get any nearer._

_“Are you scared of me, Victoria?” Her voice was low especially when she called her name._

_“No, Heda.”_

_“No?”_

_“I-I mean yes.”_

_Victoria felt a hand on her head stroking her blonde hair. She immediately averted her eyes to the owner of the hand. Her eyes were green just like the trees around them and they were beautiful._

_Her Commander was chuckling? She wasn’t the only one astonished by the show of affection. “Don’t be. Come show me around the village.”_

_The two took off and she waved Regina off without looking back as she was about to follow._

_They went around the village with Victoria shyly introducing her to new plants but they were silent most of the times. Liylah knew that she was easily intimidated. Her daily outfit was all black paired with heavy armor and a red sash flowing down her back. It was Heda’s dress code._

_Even if they were awkwardly silent, according to Victoria, she thought it was comfortable. She didn’t see Heda acting this way towards others. Meanwhile, Liylah stood beside her ogling at the green-eyed girl without her noticing._

_They sat by the trees in silence enjoying the wind on their faces. Liylah didn’t want to leave this place, but she had like 11 clans to visit and she was nowhere near done._

_She should’ve gone ahead and didn’t stay for the night, but she did anyway. Whatever it would take to get to know Victoria better._

_After they were done just walking around the place, Liylah decided to ask Victoria to spar with her._

_“Don’t say no and go at your best.”_

_They went at it for over half an hour. Liylah took this time to initiate physical contact she wasn’t really up for sparring with the girl. But Victoria surprised her. She was strong, almost as strong as Liylah was._

_The night went by in a spur and Liylah made sure to wake up before dawn so that she could find Victoria and maybe talk before she left._

_To her luck once again, Victoria was out early sparring alone. Her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and bounced off as she jumped and move from one place to another in a smooth movement. She was graceful with her steps and her hands were never awkwardly placed anywhere, which was the main problem everyone had while sparring._

_Liylah took steady and slow steps to the girl who flinched as she could feel a new presence behind her. Her eyes widened and to Liylah she looked cute so what did the almighty commander do? Giggle like a pre-apocalypse schoolgirl._

_She didn’t know what came up to her that day, but she felt it. The connection between the two. And it seemed like she wasn’t trying to hide it or tuck it away in a corner too._

_“You’re very beautiful, do you know that?”_

_With the follow up question, “Has anyone else told you that?” Then a pause and a frown. “Well they better don’t.”_

_Victoria gave her a small smile. She ushered Liylah to join her, but the latter declined. She didn’t want to be sweatier riding a horse than she already was. But promised Victoria that she would be back. She wasn’t sure why she would be back, but apparently she would be. Now that she had promised her, she had to._

_*_

_It didn’t grow unnoticed by others. Liylah spent way too much time in TonDC that people would assume that she was biased towards to the clan. But she wasn’t. She would pretend to be visiting the village but would set her eyes only on one person._

_After her fifth visit in a month, A MONTH, people started talking. She shut them all down with one look._

_Liylah was going to visit the girl again. This is already her sixth visit within that month. And this time, she won’t be discreet and would openly ask Victoria to come back to the capital with her._

_And she did, easily. In between those visits, they were already building an extremely strong connection. The two knew that there was something going on between them and Liylah would risk it all for it to never be broken._

_So the capital they went. With Victoria sat in front of her as they rode the horse back to Polis._

_Victoria never returned to TonDC. They were young and happy. No one was trying to do anything which was a relief._

_Even though in some days or month, Liylah couldn’t be beside Victoria because of her duty, their relationship had never weakened. It only grew stronger._

_For the past 10 years they were happy. The two watched the ground grew in prosperity. They led their people together._

_They wanted to take a step further and have a baby; it was Victoria’s idea saying that she won’t be getting any younger. That scared Liylah. Not the thought of having Victoria’s baby, good God, she WISHED she had Victoria’s baby, but… The thought of their own child being a nightblood killed her inside._

_But she couldn’t say no to the green-eyed girl. Victoria was adamant and she wanted it to happen. Whatever the girl wanted, the strong and charismatic commander gave. That was it, no argument needed. In other modern slang, whipped._

_So they did. They traveled all the way back to TonDC for Victoria to give birth to their first child, a daughter. Liylah didn’t need to look over her child twice to know that she was a girl, because she was just like her. They both carried an extra appendage. Tears of joy and uneasiness dropped from Liylah’s eyes as she carried her baby girl. The attendances of Victoria’s family members were there with her._

_“Alexandria.”_

_“Lexa.”_

_“We’ll name her Alexandria, but we can call her Lexa.” Victoria said exhaustedly on the bed. Liylah could only smile and landed a kiss on her sweaty forehead._

_The baby had green eyes, just like Victoria, but brunette hair like Liylah. She had a wide forehead and plump lips. They considered her a miracle and would do anything in their way to protect their little blessing._

_*_

_Alexandria was almost one when they found out she was a nightblood. It wasn’t intentional. Liylah didn’t want to know whether she was one or not in fear of having to let her train as a novitiate._

_In between her rule, nightbloods were appearing in each clan, she didn’t know how. But the voice in her head kept telling her that she knew but wasn’t trying to find out._

_This time around, the Conclave would be way too intense and her own daughter dying was her last thought._

_They kept it as quiet as possible, but Liylah’s lousy mouth eldest sister who believed strongly in what her mother had established had leaked it out. Nightbloods were suppose to be brought into training at the age of 2 and Lexa wasn’t far off from it._

_The people began knowing that Liylah had kept her daughter who was a nightblood in private and not allowing her to train. It angered them._

_It was considered treason and they wanted their Heda to pay for it._

_She didn’t; she wasn’t going to give up her daughter to the harsh training of the ground and have Lexa risk her life at such a young age. She was not going to put her through what she had been through._

_With a kiss goodbye on both Victoria and Lexa’s forehead and reassuring her wife that she could settle it._

_From here on, the two were never seen again while the ground corrupted into chaos._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bekka mous yong yongon - Becca's youngest child.  
> Do comment if you find anything confusing and I'll be happy to answer as best as I can within the realm of my imagination.  
> Becca had 3 daughters right? I made sure to space their birth apart so that it would go well with the timeline.  
> Btw, Gustus doesn't know how the two ended up in space. But he knows that Lexa was born in TonDC since he was there, "attendances of Victoria's family members" basically, he is Lexa's uncle.  
> I decided to spell Liylah like that because it sounded moe grounder-ish than just Lila. And I named Victoria after a city in British Columbia, Canada.  
> As you can see, this chapter is almost in Gustus' POV, he was in it. The next chapter would be how they got up to space and the appearances of a few people on the Ark. Little Lexa and Clarke of course. We all need that in our lives.


	12. Cosmos

Chapter 12: Cosmos

  _Sitting quietly along side her sister as they got their daily lecture from the Commander, who was their very own mother. Aside from training hard and breaking a ton of sweat on the fighting compound and going over laws and laws and more laws, another part of the day was spent getting lectured by their mother about aerospace engineering._

_Tales from how their mother got to the ground were to be kept in discreet._

_Small scraps of metal to huge devices were presented in front of them. Heda stood affront, face firm, as she pointed out specific details on every part of the object shown before them._

_They would spend the day tinkering away on stuff, creating flashes and sparks, as the sun ebbed into its horizon. And the next day, they started all over._

_After the Commander’s death and the rise of the new Commander, Liylah had decided to keep all the devices and crafts passed down from her mother to herself, in turn making it long forgotten._

_It was only a few weeks into the birth of Alexandria that she had her suspicion. She knew something wasn’t right. She felt it in her guts and the voice inside her head._

_She grew anxious and restless. There was this feeling deep inside her guts, way deep inside of her telling her that her child was going to be in danger soon._

_It only became clear after a few nightbloods appeared every week to the capital for training. Her sister was still adamant in keeping the legacy alive and so it was._

_Everyday, Liylah would take extra time to herself other than spending it snuggled with Victoria and Alexandria. She was Heda and she didn’t have the luxury to do so. Swapping between days and nights, she would lock herself up in the deep dungeon of the tower that they came to reside in immersing in her work._

_With books on the table and the knowledge in her head, she tinkered away. Screwing and unscrewing bolts, twisting and untwisting wires together, she repaired the old escape pod that her mother had descended from._

_The bottom of the tower kept many things from the late commander. Bekka had written quite a few books along the way_ — _from a general “journal” to explaining complex information on aerospace engineering and neuroscience, which was one of the usual subjects during the nightbloods’ lecture._

 _Liylah stumbled upon an extremely old book_ — _well not to say that but most of the books were old as hell and this was one of them_ — _entitled “2052”._

_Liylah didn’t really come down to this place often before the sunken feelings in her guts started appearing, so it came out as a surprise._

_Slowly she opened the first page, just by looking at it without reading, one could assume that it was just one of Bekka’s many books that she wrote. But it wasn’t, she did write it though with other purposes in mind._

_It was a journal, well somewhat similar to a journal. Everything written in chronological order_ — _boarding Polaris, working on her invention (that she did not specified), the forging of the 12 space stations, the rejection, her escape…etc._

_Another thing Liylah learnt from the lectures was this thing called, coordinates? She wasn’t sure what they were until now. Written in bold numbers were the coordinates of this thing called “The Ark”. It seemed to be what the other 11 stations had became after her mother’s rejection of the integration._

_She didn’t pay much attention to it afterwards and couldn’t dwell on what her mother had written in that particular book. Liylah went back to fixing the pod thinking that it could be of use later on for who knows what reason._

_But she wasn’t expecting it to be this reason and this soon._

_Frantically connecting wires together and typing in stuff on the control pad, she was sweating, not only from moving around so swiftly but also from panicking. A book in one hand, pushing buttons on the other, Liylah made sure everything was accurate, precise at its best._

_One last look at her two favorite girls and off they went in the middle of the night. A loud boom sounded as they took off, whether or not they made it, she didn’t know. All she knew was that it was better than having them on this unforgiving world._

_The next morning came with hushed gossips about the loud boom present the night before. Words had spread quickly about the nightblood from Trikru. Gone._

_A coup was raised, and the ground corrupted into a fiery mess. Snarls about the ungrateful daughter of Bekka Pramheda who did not follow the tradition and wars took over._

_It was a complete utter disaster; one would say that another apocalypse had occurred._

_*_

_“An unknown pod has crashed into the indoor launch pad!”_

_Chaotic murmurs throughout the Ark were heard._

_Jake Griffin, one of the most skilled engineers on the Ark came rushing through the hall with his wife behind him. Trailing behind the two was the current Chancellor of the Ark, Thelonious Jaha. He was telling people in a calm voice that everything would be all right and that they’ve got it under control._

_The whole thing was smashed and but thankfully they had another airtight door between them or else everyone would have been death by now._

_Lying in the middle of the launch pad was a decent size pod and looking through the glass window of the pod, two figures could be seen. Behind the airtight glass door Jake squinted his eyes to get a better look at the figures inside the pod._

_A girl and someone else relatively small. A child that is._

_“Get whoever it is inside now.” Ordered the Chancellor as two guards with a space suit got through the door and carefully brought the two inside._

_The baby and the lady were unconscious. Abby took a step forward immediately checking the two. Alive. And the child seemed to be around her daughter’s age as well._

_Abby was able to convince the Chancellor to take them to the medbay, but they were supposed to be locked up afterwards since they weren’t sure of their whereabouts and wouldn’t risk anymore threats against their dwindling population on the Ark._

_The woman laid unconscious on the medbay’s bed with the smaller child beside her. Abby assumed that the smaller frame was her baby, a daughter. After a few checkups, the doctor had confirmed the Chancellor that everything was normal and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Which was good, but it wasn’t according to the Chancellor._

_You see, the Ark had a limited supply of everything, everything that could raise lives, and everything that was needed for a human being able to live, so having extra people wasn’t what they wanted_ — _hence the strict law on a one child policy._

_Abby sat beside the two bodies waiting for them to grow conscious. As the woman stirred, she immediately radioed for the Chancellor to come by and talk to the girl._

_The doctor saw her eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in her surround before gasping and quickly sat up looking around. Her face was filled with relief after finding Lexa beside her. The baby’s chest heaved indicating that she was alive. And then her eyes wondered off again, she caught the doctor’s eyes and froze._

_“You’re awake.”_

_The girl gave her a confused look. “Where am I?” She answered in a heavily accented English._

_“You’re on the Ark.”_

_Flashback riled up in her head to when her wife had told her about something called the Ark floating in space. She didn’t believe it at first. How could such a thing exist? How was it even possible? They didn’t really have much time to consider anything because truly, danger was up ahead for their little green-eyed girl and they would do everything to protect her._

_Liylah showed a few drawings off of the books she retrieved from under the tower. Without much planning all Liylah did was push the two into the pod, strap them in, kiss their foreheads, and off they went._

_So this was the place. Trapped between 4 metal walls was what these people called home. Anything would be fine as long as her baby was safe._

_Footsteps treaded the metal floor loudly; it became clearer to her that they were heading her way. She took a last look at the supposed doctor sitting on a chair just across of her. She looked like she wouldn’t do any harm._

_The footsteps thudded even closer now. Her instinct to protect Lexa came as she cradled Lexa in her arms._

_“It’s ok. We won’t hurt you and the baby.”_

_What a lie. Victoria knew that this woman won’t hurt her, but whoever was strutting violently was going to do so._

_The door smashed open forcefully and two men walked in. Victoria was an observer; she did trained to become a warrior on the ground. Now she was looking at the guys closely. Scanning their expressions and their every movement._

_The guy trailing behind didn’t seem to be a threat._

_“Hi. I’m the Chancellor.” The man who was walking in the front the whole time said without any expression on his face. Victoria turned to look at the guy behind him; he gave her a small smile._

_“Go easy on her. She just woke up.”_

_He didn’t listen to her but walked right up to Victoria and stood in front of her before rambling._

_“I’m going to make this clear. First I need you to answer my question. Where are you from?”_

_“The ground.” She replied back and hugged Lexa in her arms tighter to her chest._

_“Nonsense. No one survives on the ground. We’ve inspected the pod you came in.” He gave one look at Abby. “It’s the one from Polaris.” And turned back to Victoria. “Who sent you here? Who else is left?”_

_“I am from the ground and no one sent me. I came here to seek refuge for my baby.”_

_“What is your name?”_

_“Victoria-” She paused. “Woods.”_

_“Well Victoria, I don’t know what your intention is-”_

_“I came here to seek refuge-”_

_“I heard you the first time, Victoria. Let me lay down a foundation for you to understand a little better. We’re in space. We have inadequate supply of everything. The air you’re breathing in at the moment? That’s extremely scarce. We can’t randomly add people to our population.”_

_“You can’t kill my baby.” She continued pleading tears brimming on the rim of her eyes._

_“What are you doing Chancellor?” The doctor stood up from her seat abruptly furious at his intentions._

_“You can’t possibly do that.”_

_“Jake, Abby, this is not your call.”_

_“It is my call. I am part of the council.” Abby said determined to change his decision._

_*_

_“Don’t worry, we’ll-” She looked at the Chancellor’s face and then shrugged it off, “I’ll take care of Lexa for you. At this age, she isn’t attached to you yet. Not saying that it’s a good thing that she isn’t attached to you, but it seemed to be a good thing at the moment so it won’t be hard for her to adapt to this place.”_

_Victoria didn’t reply, her eyes fixed on the baby in Abby’s arms. Jake was standing beside her with their baby in his arm. She stood behind a glass door. Waiting for her death and leaving her baby to this stranger who she trusts, just not this Chancellor man._

_“I promise I will keep her safe. May we meet again.”_

_The Chancellor motioned towards the guards to pull the lever. And within seconds, the mother of the girl in her arms was gone._

_She didn’t know what to say, but stared at the green eyes that were looking back at her. Her mind goes back to the conversation she had with the very woman who had just been floated a couple of days ago in the medical bay._

_“We come from the ground.”_

_“It’s not possible, we’ve sent Geiger counters to measure the radiation level on the ground and it’s extremely high. No one would be able to survive such levels.”_

_“The tales had mentioned Praimfaya and how our Commander came to save us. Bekka Pramheda was her name. She was the mother of my wife, the current Commander.”_

_Victoria didn’t know why she was telling this stranger all these but she felt like Abby would keep it safe within her. Not to mention since she was going to lend her baby to her anyway. Her mind drifted back to her wife, she didn’t know what had happened now after she escaped._

_“Becca?” Abby asked cautiously. At first she didn’t really pay attention to it, she was sure that there were other Beccas supposedly on the ground. Then she remembered Jake telling her that the pod Victoria came up with was from Polaris._

_“So Lexa isn’t your wife’s biological daughter?”_

_Victoria looked at her confused. She didn’t really get what the doctor meant so she didn’t reply. Abby sensed the confusion and changed the subject._

_“How did you come up? Well, why did you decide to come up?”_

_“I-” Victoria couldn’t finish her sentence before guards came barging in. She hugged Lexa to her chest not willing to let go, but Abby reassured her that it would be fine that she will take care of Lexa. She was then thrown into a cell waiting for the day they would float her._

_Lexa grew up as an orphan alongside other orphans on the Ark. The only thing was that no one knew who her parents were._

_Abby had tried to fulfill the promise she made with Victoria, but she couldn’t. Even after a new Chancellor came to power, he was still ruthless, and his name was Thelonious Jaha._

_He separated the orphans from the higher class, in space or on the ground; the government was still a bunch of ludicrous people._

_When Lexa was 15, it was compulsory to have a full body check up. Not knowing why, 2 days later, she was thrown into the Sky Box._

_And that was the last thing that happened before she and 100 others were sent to the ground._

_*_

_After Victoria and Lexa left, the ground was in chaos._

_Liylah was overthrown. Death by an assassination._

_The Commanders afterwards were weak, couldn’t keep themselves on the throne for long. A lot of bloodshed had happened in Lexa’s absence._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything came from my imagination, nothing is true. So is Lexa's death.


End file.
